Systems and methods for precise timing measurements using high-speed deserializers

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are disclosed for precise event time measurement using high-speed deserializer circuitry. The described embodiments utilize high speed deserializer circuitry to achieve a precision based upon a bit period associated with the operation of the high speed operation of the deserializer circuitry rather than upon slower speed clock periods associated with reference clock signals. In certain embodiments, the disclosed systems and methods receive an event occurrence signal and use deserializer circuitry to sample the event occurrence signal and to produce multi-bit parallel data representing the event occurrence signal. Precise timestamps can then be generated based upon the multi-bit parallel data. Advantageously, the precision of these time measurements is associated with the bit period of the high speed operation of the deserializer circuitry and are not limited to lower speeds at which other circuitry within the system may be operating, for example, based upon a slower reference clock signal.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related in subject matter to the followingconcurrently filed applications: U.S. patent application Ser. No.______, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PRECISE EVENT TIMINGMEASUREMENTS;” U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PRECISE GENERATION OF PHASE VARIATION INDIGITAL SIGNALS;” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PLAYBACK OF DETECTED TIMING EVENTS;” each ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to detection of events and, more particularly, tosystems and methods for precise time measurements associated withdetected events.

BACKGROUND

There is often a need with electronic systems to determine theoccurrence of events associated with the operation of those electronicsystems. Further, electronic systems are also used to monitor and detectevents that are occurring on other equipment or within the environmentwithin which the electronic system is placed. As such, there is often aneed to determine timing information associated with the occurrence ofthese monitored and detected events. The resolution or precision withwhich this timing information can be provided depends upon the timingdetection and measurement systems utilized to determine when the eventhas occurred.

Current techniques for detecting the occurrence of an event and timingassociated with the occurrence of an event typically fall into one ofthree different categories. The first category uses timestamps based onconventional counters, which are limited by the frequency at which thecounter can operate, typically on the order of several nanoseconds. Thesecond category, used in time interval counters, utilizes circuits thatrely upon analog techniques to determine time intervals, such ascharging a capacitor with a constant current source and measuring theresulting voltage. These analog techniques, however, can only measurerelatively short time intervals (microseconds) and require calibrationto remain accurate (e.g., annual calibration traceable to an officialtiming source such as from the National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST)). The third category uses the propagation delay ofcircuit elements, such as gates or wires, to subdivide a measurementinterval in to sub-intervals. These propagation delay techniques alsorequire calibration because the switching speed of the circuitry changesas a function of process, temperature and voltage. These propagationdelay techniques also become cumbersome as the number of sub-intervalsgrow.

While these prior systems and techniques provide the ability to detectand determine time information associated with the occurrence of events,it is desirable to be able to achieve greater resolution in determiningtiming information associated with detected events.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods are disclosed for precise event time measurementusing high-speed deserializer circuitry. The described embodimentsutilize high speed deserializer circuitry to achieve a precision basedupon a bit period associated with the operation of the high speedoperation of the deserializer circuitry rather than upon slower speedclock periods associated with reference clock signals. In certainembodiments, the disclosed systems and methods receive an eventoccurrence signal and use deserializer circuitry to sample the eventoccurrence signal and to produce multi-bit parallel data representingthe event occurrence signal. Precise timestamps can then be generatedbased upon the multi-bit parallel data. Advantageously, the precision ofthese time measurements is associated with the bit period of the highspeed operation of the deserializer circuitry and are not limited tolower speeds at which other circuitry within the system may beoperating, for example, based upon a slower reference clock signal.Other features and variations can be implemented, if desired, andrelated systems and methods can be utilized, as well.

In one embodiment, a system for event timing measurement is provide thatincludes an event occurrence input signal, reference clock generatorcircuitry having a reference clock signal as an output, deserializercircuitry coupled to the reference clock signal and having the eventoccurrence signal as an input, the deserializer circuitry beingconfigured to output multi-bit parallel data representative of the eventoccurrence signal at an output rate based upon a rate of the referenceclock signal, the deserializer circuitry being further configured tosample the event occurrence signal at a rate faster than the output rateof the multi-bit parallel data, and event timing detector circuitrycoupled to receive the multi-bit parallel data and configured todetermine when an event occurred within the multi-bit parallel data andto output event timing data representative of when the event occurredwithin the multi-bit parallel data. In a further embodiment, thedeserializer circuitry is configured to sample the event occurrencesignal at a rate equal to the rate of the reference clock signal times anumber of bits used for the multi-bit parallel data. Still further, theevent timing data can include one or more timestamps. The event timingdata can also include one or more time error values. In addition, theevent occurrence signal can be a digital clock signal. The eventoccurrence signal can also be an analog signal. The event occurrencesignal can also be associated with at least one of an arrival of networkpackets and a departure of network packets.

In a further embodiment, the deserializer circuitry and the eventdetector circuitry provide a first measurement path, and the systemfurther includes one or more additional measurement paths coupled toreceive the event occurrence signal where each additional measurementpath also includes deserializer circuitry and event timing detectorcircuitry. In another embodiment, the one or more additional measurementpaths are configured to provide one or more time measurements that areoffset in time from the a time measurement provided by the firstmeasurement path, and the time measurement and the one or more offsettime measurements are utilized to provide event timing data having afiner resolution than the sample rate of the deserializer circuitry. Ina further embodiment, the deserializer circuitry and the event detectorcircuitry provide a first measurement path, and the system furtherincludes one or more additional measurement paths where each additionalmeasurement path also includes deserializer circuitry and event timingdetector circuitry and where each additional measurement path isconfigured to receive a different event occurrence signal.

In still a further embodiment, the event timing detector circuitry caninclude timestamp circuitry configured to provide an event timestamp.Still further, the event timestamp can include a counter portion and abit period portion where the counter portion is based upon a timecounter and the bit period portion is based upon the multi-bit paralleldata. In another embodiment, the time error circuitry is configured tooutput time error data representing a difference between an eventtimestamp and an expected event timestamp.

In one other embodiment, a method for event timing measurement isprovided that includes receiving an event occurrence input signal,generating a reference clock signal, using deserializer circuitrycoupled to the reference clock signal to output multi-bit parallel datarepresentative of the event occurrence signal at an output rate basedupon a rate of the reference clock signal where the deserializercircuitry samples the event occurrence signal at a rate faster than theoutput rate of the multi-bit parallel data, determining when an eventoccurred within the multi-bit parallel data, and generating event timingdata representative of when the event occurred within the multi-bitparallel data. In a further embodiment, the method includes detectingone or more events and generating the event occurrence signal torepresent the detected events. In another embodiment, the using stepincludes using the deserializer circuitry to sample the event occurrencesignal at a rate equal to the rate of the reference clock signal times anumber of bits used for the multi-bit parallel data.

In another embodiment, the method includes duplicating the using andgenerating steps to provide one or more additional time measurementsassociated with the event occurrence signal. Still further, the methodcan also include using the one or more additional time measurements toprovide two or more offset time measurements that are offset in timefrom each other. In addition, the method can include using the offsettime measurements to generate event timing data having a finerresolution than a resolution from a single time measurement. In afurther embodiment, the method can include duplicating the using andgenerating steps to provide one or more additional time measurementsassociated with one or more different event occurrence signals.

In a further embodiment, the generating step includes generating anevent timestamp. Still further, the event timestamp can include acounter portion and a bit period portion where the counter portion isbased upon a time counter and where the bit period portion is based uponthe multi-bit parallel data. In a further embodiment, the generatingstep can include generating time error data representing a differencebetween an event timestamp and an expected event timestamp.

Other features and variations can be implemented, if desired, andrelated systems and methods can be utilized, as well.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is noted that the appended drawings illustrate only exemplaryembodiments of the invention and are, therefore, not to be consideredlimiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equallyeffective embodiments.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an embodiment for a precise eventdetection system.

FIG. 1B is a process flow diagram of an embodiment for precise eventdetection.

FIG. 1C is a block diagram for a further embodiment for a precise eventdetection system.

FIG. 2A is a more detailed block diagram of an embodiment for a systemthat provides precise detection of events utilizing high speedserializer, logic and deserializer circuitry.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of an embodiment for event detector andtimestamp circuitry that can be utilized to provide precise timestampsassociated with detected events.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an embodiment for generation of timestamps anderror values associated with events.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment for additional timestampprocessing circuitry that can be utilized to provide additionalinformation associated with the detection of events.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram of an embodiment using multiple offsettimestamps to provide increased resolution.

FIG. 5B is a signal diagram for offset detection of events using anembodiment according to FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5C is a block diagram of an embodiment for detecting events frommultiple event occurrence input signals.

FIG. 6A is a block diagram of an embodiment for providing an eventoccurrence signal directly to a deserializer for sampling and conversionto multi-bit parallel data words.

FIG. 6B is a block diagram of an embodiment for using multipledeserializers to provide offset times stamps for an event occurrencesignal provided directly to the deserializers.

FIG. 6C is a block diagram of an embodiment for using multipledeserializers to detect events from multiple event occurrence inputsignals provided directly to the deserializers.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram of an embodiment for precise generation ofphase variation in digital signals.

FIG. 7B is a process flow diagram of an embodiment for precisegeneration of phase variation in digital signals.

FIG. 8. is a more detailed block diagram of an embodiment for a systemthat provides precise generation of phase variation in digital signals.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an embodiment for a sinusoidal phasegenerator.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an embodiment for an arbitrary phasegenerator.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an embodiment for phase change integratorand limiter circuitry.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an embodiment for waveform generatorcircuitry.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an embodiment for playback of signalsbased upon event timing data detected from event occurrences.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an embodiment for detecting eventoccurrences and generating desired phase variation in digital signals ina network communications environment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an embodiment that uses a phase changeprocessor to adjust the event timing data, as desired, prior to itsbeing used to provide phase data to control the generation of signalswith desired phase variation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods are disclosed for precisely and accurately measuringtime information associated with occurrence of detected events. Thedescribed embodiments combine high speed serializer and deserializercircuitry with high speed logic elements, such as exclusive-OR (XOR) orexclusive-not-OR (XNOR) logic circuitry, to achieve precision based uponthe bit period of the high speed digital signals processed by thesecircuit devices and elements. Further embodiments utilize high speeddeserializers to receive event occurrence signals and to provide aprecision based upon the input bit periods of the deserializercircuitry. Other features and variations can be implemented, if desired,and related systems and methods can be utilized, as well.

Systems and methods are also disclosed for precise generation of phasevariation in digital signals. The disclosed signal generationembodiments generate a pattern of information bits that represents adigital signal with desired phase variations and transmit this digitalpattern at high speed utilizing a serializer to generate a high speedbit stream. The high speed bit stream can be used to generate one ormore digital signals, such as clock signals, having desired rates anddesired phase variations. In certain embodiments, the desired phasevariation can be introduced into the resulting digital signal byremoving and/or inserting bits in a digital pattern thereby moving logictransitions (e.g., rising edge transitions, falling edge transitions) asdesired within the resulting digital signal. In addition to clocksignals, the resulting digital signals generated can be control signals,data signals and/or any other desired digital signal. Furtherembodiments provide for playback of detected events including phasevariations associated with those detected events. Other features andvariations can be implemented, if desired, and related systems andmethods can be utilized, as well.

Precise timing measurement techniques for detecting event timing dataassociated with detect events are described below in more detail withrespect to FIGS. 1A-C, 2A-B, 3-4, 5A-C and 6A-C. Precise signalgeneration techniques for generating signals with desired phasevariations are described in more detail below with respect to FIGS. 7A-Band 8-15.

It is noted that the operational blocks depicted herein can beimplemented using hardware, software or a combination of hardware andsoftware, as desired. In addition, integrated circuits, discretecircuits or a combination of discrete and integrated circuits can beused, as desired, that are configured to perform the functionalitydescribed. Further, programmable integrated circuitry can also be used,such as FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), ASICs (applicationspecific integrated circuits) and/or other programmable integratedcircuitry. In addition, one or more processors running software orfirmware could also be used, if desired. For example, computer readableinstructions embodied in a tangible medium (e.g., memory storagedevices, FLASH memory, random access memory, read only memory,programmable memory devices, reprogrammable storage devices, harddrives, floppy disks, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and/or any other tangible storagemedium) could be utilized including instructions that cause computersystems, programmable circuitry (e.g., FPGAs) and/or processors toperform the processes, functions and capabilities described herein. Itis further understood, therefore, that one or more of the tasks,functions, or methodologies described herein may be implemented, forexample, as software or firmware and/or other instructions embodied inone or more non-transitory tangible computer readable mediums that areexecuted by a CPU, controller, microcontroller, processor,microprocessor, or other suitable processing circuitry.

The precise timing measurement embodiments are now described withrespect to FIGS. 1A-C, 2A-B, 3-4, 5A-C and 6A-C.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an embodiment for a precise eventdetection system. FIG. 1B is a process flow diagram of an embodiment forprecise event detection. FIG. 1C is a block diagram of a furtherembodiment for a precise event detection system. FIG. 2A is a moredetailed block diagram of an embodiment for a system that providesprecise detection of events utilizing high speed serializer, logic anddeserializer circuitry. FIG. 2B is a block diagram of an embodiment forevent detector and timestamp circuitry that can be utilized to provideprecise timestamps associated with detected events. FIG. 3 is a diagramof an embodiment for timestamps and error values associated withdetected events. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment foradditional timestamp processing circuitry that can be utilized toprovide additional information associated with the detection of events.FIG. 5A is a block diagram for an embodiment that uses multiple offsettimestamps to provide improved finer resolution. FIG. 5B is a signaldiagram for offset detection of events using an embodiment according toFIG. 5A. FIG. 5C is a block diagram of an embodiment for detectingevents from multiple event occurrence input signals. FIGS. 6A-6C areblock diagrams of embodiments for providing event occurrence signalsdirectly to deserializers and then generating event timing data.

The disclosed systems and methods provide improved performance ascompared to prior techniques. For example, improved precision isprovided as compared to typical counter based techniques, which arelimited by the speed at which the counter can be operated. The disclosedtechniques can also be implemented as fully digital solutions so thatthe accuracy of timestamp data is improved. Furthermore, the disclosedembodiments can be implemented without requiring complicated calibrationschemes or other requirements often seen in analog solutions (e.g., suchas detailed control of the duty cycle of a reference clock).

In some embodiments as described below, the signal event measurementtechniques disclosed herein generate a known digital signal pattern ofinformation bits, transmit them at high speed with a serializer, modify(e.g., pass or invert) the high speed bit stream according to an eventoccurrence signal, receive and deserialize the modified high speed bitstream with a deserializer, compare the deserialized modified bit streamwith a prediction of the information bits for the original signalpattern, and determine the bit positions or bit periods at which themodifications (e.g., inversions) occur from the comparison of theresults. These bit positions can then be used to represent the relativetime at which the detected signal event occurred. Advantageously, theprecision of these time measurements is associated with the bit periodof the high speed signals processed by the serializer, deserializer andlogic circuitry rather than slower clock rates that may be associatedwith other circuit operation within the system.

FIG. 1A is block diagram of an embodiment 100 for a precise eventdetection system. The pattern generator circuitry 104 provides an output103 to the serializer circuitry 106. The output 103 is the digitalsignal pattern output by the pattern generator circuitry 104 asmulti-bit parallel data (e.g., N-bit data words), and these multi-bitparallel data words are then received and serialized by the serializercircuitry 106. The serializer circuitry 106 then provides output 107 tologic circuitry 110. The output 107 is a bit stream representing thedigital signal pattern and is output by the serializer circuitry 106 assingle-bit serial data. This bit stream 107 is then received andprocessed by logic circuitry 110. The logic circuitry 110 also receivesan event occurrence signal 123 as an input. As described in more detailbelow, the event occurrence signal 123 can be any of a variety ofsignals that indicate the occurrence of events. And the event occurrencesignal 123 can be provided directly from a signal event source for whichevents are being detected to being used, or the event occurrence signal123 can be processed or conditioned prior to being used, as desired,depending upon the logic or other circuitry being used.

The logic circuitry 110 logically processes the bit stream 107 and eventoccurrence signal 123 to produce a modified bit stream as its output115. As described in more detail below, this logical operation can be anexclusive-OR (XOR) logic operation, if desired. This modified bit stream115 represents the bit stream 107 as modified through logic circuitry110 based upon events represented by changes in the event occurrencesignal 123. The modified bit stream is output by logic circuitry 110 assingle-bit serial data to the deserializer circuitry 116. Thedeserializer circuitry 116 deserializes this modified bit stream 115 andproduces an output 113 to the event timing detector circuitry 120. Theoutput 113 is multi-bit parallel data words (e.g., M-bit data words)that represents a modified digital signal pattern based upon themodified bit stream 115. These multi-bit parallel data words 113 arethen received and processed by event timing detector circuitry 120. Theevent timing detector circuitry 120 compares the modified digital signalpattern with a predicted digital signal pattern based upon the originaldigital signal pattern and determines if an event has been detected andproduces event timing data 122 associated with the occurrence of events.This event timing data 122 can then be used by other circuitry orsystems, as desired, such as to generate precise timestamps and/or timeerrors as described in more detail below.

Advantageously, the signal lines 103 and 113 having multi-bit paralleldata can be operated at rates that are slower than the bit streamoperational rates of the serializer circuitry 106, the logic circuitry110 and the deserializer circuitry 116. For example, signal lines 103and 113 can be operated at rates based upon reference clock signals 118Aand 118B, which can have the same or different rates, and the referenceclock rates can be slower than the serial bit stream rates on signallines 107 and 115. As described in more detail below, because theserializer circuitry 106, the logic circuitry 110, and the deserializercircuitry 116 are operating at faster rates than the signal lines 103and 113, they can be used to provide timing measurements that exceed theresolution that would be possible using clock rates associated with thesignal lines 103 and 113 alone.

It is further noted that the reference clock signals utilized anddescribed herein, such as reference clocks signals 118 and 118A/B, canbe the same rate, if desired, or can be different rates. Further, aplurality of reference clock signals can be generated and used byapplying dividers, multipliers and/or other circuitry to a basereference clock signal. As such, a wide variety of reference clocksignals at one or more rates can be based upon one or more referenceclock signals. For example, a reference clock generator may generate areference clock signal and one or more reference clock signals that areall based on the same reference clock signal (e.g., 10 MHz, 20 MHz and40 MHz, or 25 MHz, 125 MHz and 156.25 MHz) because the different ratescan be converted from one to another through clock divider and/ormultiplier circuitry, PLL (phase locked loop) circuitry and/or otherdesired circuitry. In short, the reference clock signals used herein canbe the same rate but can also be different rates, if desired, and canfurther be one or more reference clock signals based upon one or morebase reference clock signals. As such, the different circuit blocksdescribed herein that receive reference clock signals can be coupled toa generated reference clock signal through one or more dividercircuitry, multiplier circuitry and/or other circuitry while stillreceiving a reference clock signal based upon a generated referenceclock signal.

With respect to the actual data rates being used, signal line 103 canoperate at a first rate; signal line 107 can operate at a second rate;signal line 115 can operate at a third rate; and signal line 113 canoperate at a fourth rate. In some embodiments, the first and fourthrates could be the same, and the second and third rates could be thesame. Further, the N-bit data and the M-bit data could be the same datawidth so that N and M are the same. However, more generally, the secondrate and the third rate could be different but both be faster than thefirst rate. Further, if desired, the third rate could be higher than thesecond rate. Still further, the fourth rate could be different from thefirst rate but could be slower than the third rate. As such, differentcombinations of rates could be used for the first, second, third andfourth rates, as desired, while still taking advantage of the techniquesdescribed here for achieving greater timing resolution than would beavailable by simply relying upon a reference clock signal. In oneembodiment described below, the serializer 106 and the deserializer 116can operate at 5 GHz or 10 GHz, and the signal lines 103 and 113 canoperate at a much lower rate, such as 156.25 MHz. Other rates could alsobe used, as desired.

It is noted that the serializer 106 and deserializer 116 can beimplemented using one or more FPGA (field programmable gate arrays)integrated circuits, such as those available from Altera Corporation.For example, Stratix IV GX transceivers available from Altera can beused to implement the serializer 106 and deserializer 116, if desired.

FIG. 1B is a process flow diagram of an embodiment 130 for precise eventdetection. In block 132, a digital signal pattern is generated. Thedigital signal pattern data is then serialized in block 134. Theserialized digital signal pattern data is then output at high speed inblock 136, where the output rate is higher than the rate at which thepattern data was originally generated. An event occurrence signal isreceived in block 138. In block 140, the event occurrence input signalis logically applied to the serialized pattern data to produce modifiedpattern data that is still serialized and at high speed. As describedabove, an XOR logic operation is one logic operation that can be appliedto the serialized pattern data using the event occurrence signal toproduce modified serialized pattern data. Other logic operations and/orother bit stream modification circuitry could also be used, if desired.In block 142, the modified signal pattern data is then deserialized toproduce modified digital signal pattern data that is no longerserialized. In block 144, the original or predicted pattern data iscompared to the modified pattern data. In block 146, this comparison isused to determine event timing within the modified digital signalpattern. Finally, in block 148, timing data associated with the detectedevent can be output.

Thus, as described herein, by applying a logic operation to serializeddigital signal pattern data using an event occurrence signal, modifieddigital signal pattern data can be generated. Once this modified digitalsignal pattern data is compared to the original pattern data or apredicted pattern data based upon the original pattern data, differencescan be determined between the two and used to identify when a signalevent occurred within the modified digital signal pattern data. Thisevent occurrence within the modified digital signal pattern dataprovides a greater resolution for the timing data than would beavailable at reference clock rates used for the parallel data wordsbecause the logic operation is performed at a higher speed on serializedpattern data. Thus, one or more orders of magnitude greater resolutionis possible as compared to using a reference clock signal alone toprovide event detection and timing measurements.

FIG. 1C is a block diagram for a further embodiment 150 for a preciseevent detection system. For this embodiment 150, an input signal pattern162 is provided to pattern modification circuitry 160. The patternmodification circuitry 160 modifies the pattern signal 162 to produce amodified signal pattern 166 based upon the event occurrence signal 123.The modified signal pattern 166 includes one or more modifications tothe pattern signal 162 to represent one or more events within the eventoccurrence signal 123. The deserializer 116 operates to sample logiclevels represented by the modified signal pattern 166 at a rate that isfaster than the reference clock signal 118B. The deserializer 116 thenoutputs M-bit parallel digital data 113 that is based upon the logicvalues sampled from the modified signal pattern 166. The modified signalpattern 166 can be a digital signal or an analog signal, as desired,where a digital signal is one that is configured to move between twologic levels (e.g., high logic level and low logic level) and where ananalog signal is one that is configured to move between three or morevoltage levels. The deserializer 116 can be configured to determinewhether a high logic level or a low logic level is present whether themodified signal pattern 166 is a digital signal or an analog signal. Forexample, if analog signal, then analog values above a certain level canbe detected as a high logic level, and analog values below this certainlevel can be detected as a low logic level. The detected logic levelsare then converted by the deserializer 116 to the M-bit digital paralleldata 113. The event timing detector circuitry 120 receives this M-bitparallel data, compares it to a predicted signal pattern based upon thesignal pattern 162, and produces event timing data 122 based upon thiscomparison. As described herein the event timing data 122 can be a widevariety of timing information including timestamps and/or error values.Further, it is noted that the event occurrence signal 123 and the signalpattern can also be digital signals or analog signals, as desired. Andas described herein, the event occurrence signal 123 can be provideddirectly from a signal source for which events are being measured, orthe event occurrence signal can be processed or conditioned prior tobeing used by the pattern modification circuitry 160.

FIG. 2A is a more detailed block diagram for an embodiment 200 of asystem for precise detection of events. As with embodiment 100 of FIG.1A, embodiment 200 utilizes serializer circuitry 106, logic circuitry110 and deserializer circuitry 116 operating at a high speed to modify abit stream based upon a digital signal pattern so that timing associatedwith the event occurrence can be determined at a level of precisiongreater than what would be provided using a reference clock signalalone.

In the embodiment 200 depicted, pattern generation circuitry 104 iscoupled to high speed serializer circuitry 106. The pattern generationcircuitry 104 produces a digital signal pattern of information bits, andthis digital signal pattern is output as N-bit parallel data 103 to thehigh speed serializer 106. The high speed serializer 106 serializes thisN-bit parallel data 103 to produce a bit stream of single-bit serialdata that is provided to the logic circuitry 110. In addition to thisbit stream, the logic circuitry 110 also receives an event occurrencesignal 123 as an input from event detection circuitry 125. The eventdetection circuitry 125 can include, for example, event conditioningcircuitry 126 and asynchronous event detector circuitry 124. The logiccircuitry 110 processes these inputs and generates a modified bit stream115 that is provided to the deserializer circuitry 116 as single-bitserial data. The high speed deserializer circuitry 116 processes thishigh speed modified bit stream and outputs M-bit parallel data 113 toevent detector and timestamp circuitry 120. The event detector andtimestamp circuitry 120, as described further below, can process theM-bit parallel data 113 and determine when the signal event occurredwithin the modified bit stream and generate event timing data 122, suchas precise timestamps, associated with detected events, if desired.

As also shown in the embodiment 200 depicted, the logic circuitry 110 isimplemented as exclusive-OR (XOR) logic circuitry, as described in moredetail below, and uses differential input and output signals. As such,the high speed serializer 106 provides the high speed bit stream to thelogic circuitry 110 as a differential input signal 107. Similarly, theevent detection circuitry 125 provides the event occurrence signal tothe logic circuitry 110 as a differential input signal 123. It is notedthat differential signals are used in differential signaling whereinformation is transmitted electrically by means of two complementarysignals, for example, two complementary signals sent using two separatewires or signal paths. The information being transmitted (e.g., logicone or logic zero) is represented in the difference between the twocomplementary signals. As such, for differential signaling, thereceiving device or circuitry uses the voltage difference between thetwo signals to determine the transmitted information. Differentialsignaling can be used in high speed applications to improve performance.

As depicted, the XOR logic circuitry includes a 1-to-2 (1:2) fan-outbuffer 112 and a 2-to-1 (2:1) multiplexer (MUX) 114. The fan-out buffer112 receives the differential bit stream 107 from the high speedserializer 106 and produces two differential signals as outputs. One ofthe differential output signals is provided to the zero (0) input of themultiplexer 114 as a non-inverted bit stream differential input. Theother differential output signal is provided to the one (1) input of themultiplexer 114 as an inverted bit stream differential input. Thisinverted bit stream input can be obtained, for example, by swapping thedifferential signals as represented by cross-over 111 in FIG. 2A (e.g.,by swapping the signal lines on a circuit board). In addition to theinverted bit stream and non-inverted bit stream inputs, the multiplexer114 also receives the differential event occurrence signal 123 from theevent detection circuitry 125 as its control input. This control inputoperates to select as the differential output 115 of multiplexer 114either the non-inverted bit stream or the inverted bit stream based uponthe state of the differential event occurrence signal 123. In theembodiment depicted, if the event occurrence signal 123 is a high logiclevel, then the one (1) input of the multiplexer 114 is selected and theinverted bit stream is output by multiplexer 114 to the high speeddeserializer 116. And if the event occurrence signal 123 is a low logiclevel, then the zero (0) input of the multiplexer 114 is selected andthe non-inverted bit stream is output by multiplexer 114 to the highspeed deserializer 116. In so doing, the logic circuitry 110 implementsan exclusive-OR (XOR) logic function with the bit stream input signal107 and the event occurrence signal input 123 as the inputs to the XORlogic operation.

The operation of the XOR logic circuitry 110 in the embodiment depictedcan be summarized with the following logic set forth in TABLE 1 below.

TABLE 1 XOR Logic Circuitry Bit Stream Event Occurrence Output 115Signal Input 107 Signal Input 123 From MUX 114 Low Low Low (non-invertedinput selected) Low High High (inverted input selected) High Low High(non-inverted input selected) High High Low (inverted input selected)

It is noted that other logic functions could also be used for logiccircuitry 110 rather than the XOR operation depicted. For example, anexclusive-not-OR (XNOR) logic operation could be used by simplyinverting the output of the logic outputs provided in TABLE 1 above.Further, OR, AND, NOR, NAND and/or other logic operations could also beused, if desired. For example, with an OR logic operation implemented inlogic circuitry 110, when the event occurrence signal 123 is a logic 1,the output of the MUX 114 is also a logic 1. However, the deserializerand downstream processing will lose additional signal edges because theoutput will stay a logic 1 so long as the event occurrence signal is alogic 1. Similarly, with an AND logic operation implemented by logiccircuitry 110, when the event occurrence signal 123 is a logic 0, theoutput of the MUX 114 is also a logic 0, and the deserializer anddownstream processing will similarly lose all edges as long as the eventoccurrence signal 123 remains a logic 0. Similar operation would alsooccur if NOR or NAND logic operations were implemented in logiccircuitry 110. Further, it is noted that the event conditioningcircuitry 126 could also be modified in addition to the logic circuitry110. For example, if OR/AND/NOR/NAND logic operations were used, similarresults to those described herein for the XOR logic operation could beachieved by having the event conditioning circuitry 126 generate a pulsewith a controlled width as the event occurrence signal 123 in responseto a detected event. This would allow for the output 115 of MUX 114 tocontinue toggling based upon the bit stream 107 after a signal event hadbeen detected. Other variations could also be implemented as desiredwhile still taking advantage of the high speed serializer/deserializercircuitry along with a logic operation to modify the high speed bitstream based upon an event occurrence signal so that a comparison can bemade with the original or predicted bit stream to determine event timinginformation associated with an event occurrence.

Looking back to FIG. 2A, it is noted that the reference clock signal 118produced by the reference clock generator circuitry 102 is provided topattern generator circuitry 104, high speed serializer circuitry 106,high speed deserializer circuitry 116 and event detector and timestampcircuitry 120. As described herein, each of these circuit blocks can beconfigured, if desired, to utilize this reference clock signal 118 or aclock signal based upon this reference clock signal 118 for timing ofits operations. For example, one or more reference clock signals can begenerated from one or more initial reference clock signals using dividercircuitry, multiplier circuitry and/or other desired circuitry. It isfurther noted, as also described below, that a reference clock signalcould also be recovered by the deserializer circuitry, for example, fromthe modified bit stream 115, if desired. This recovered clock, forexample, could be used by the deserializer 116 and/or the event detectorand timestamp circuitry 120, if desired.

In operation, the serializer circuitry 106, logic circuitry 110 anddeserializer circuitry 116 preferably operate at higher speeds ascompared to the pattern generator circuitry 104 and the event detectorand timestamp circuitry 120. For example, the pattern generationcircuitry 104 could be operating at about 156.25 MHz so as to outputN-bit parallel data words representing a digital signal pattern at arate of 156.25 million words per second. As stated above, this rate ofoperation can be based upon the reference clock signal 118, if desired.The high speed serializer 106 can receive this N-bit data input and canoutput single-bit serial data as a bit stream at a higher rate. Forexample, the output of high speed serializer 106 could be capable ofoperating at rates of 1 GHz or more (e.g., 1 gigabits per second ormore). This high speed bit stream is then modified by logic circuitry110 based upon the receipt of the event occurrence signal from eventdetection circuitry 125. The logic circuitry 110 can also be configuredto operate at high speed and output a high speed modified bit stream.For example, this high speed modified bit stream could also besingle-bit serial data output at rates of 1 GHz or more (e.g., 1gigabits per second or more). This high speed modified bit stream isthen converted to a modified digital signal pattern by deserializercircuitry 116, which operates to receive the high speed modified bitstream and output at a lower rate M-bit parallel data words representingthe modified digital signal pattern data. For example, the deserializercircuitry can be capable of operating to receive the modified bit streaminput at rates of 1 GHz or more (e.g., 1 gigabits per second or more)and to output M-bit parallel data words representing a modified digitalsignal pattern at a lower rate, such as 156.25 MHz or 156.25 millionwords per second. As stated above, this output rate of M-bit data can bebased upon the reference clock signal 118, if desired.

The modification to the bit stream made by the logic circuitry can thenbe detected in the event detector and timestamp circuitry 120 bycomparing the modified digital signal pattern to a predicted digitalsignal pattern based upon the digital signal pattern originallygenerated by the pattern generation circuitry 104. This comparison canbe used to determine the bit position or bit period at which the eventoccurred within the modified digital signal pattern. As such, eventtiming indication data is generated that represents a relative timewithin the modified digital signal pattern at which the detected signalevent occurred. This event timing indication data can then be used togenerate a timestamp for the event occurrence, and this timestamp canprovide more precision than simply using a clock signal alone, asdescribed in more detail below.

Advantageously, by using the high speed serializer 106, logic circuitry110 and deserializer 116, the embodiments disclosed herein can determinean event occurrence at one or more orders of magnitude better resolutionthan would have been achieved using the reference clock signal 118alone. In short, the bit rate or bit period of the high speed circuitryis used to determine the resolution of the timestamps as opposed to therate of a reference clock alone. Further, as described below, additionaltechniques, such as offset time measurements, can be used to provideeven finer resolution. As such, the resolution provided by thetimestamps are related to the bit period of the incoming modified bitstream, thereby providing improved resolution as compared to priorsolutions.

It is again noted that the reference clock generator circuitry 102 canbe utilized to generate a reference clock signal 118 at a controlledfrequency. That clock signal 118 can then be connected to and useddirectly or indirectly to, time the operation of other circuitry withinembodiment 200.

The pattern generator circuitry 104 can be configured to generatedigital signal patterns, and these digital signal patterns can be outputas parallel information words containing a known pattern of informationbits. Examples of digital signal patterns of information bits that couldbe used include a pseudorandom bit sequence, a counting pattern, analternating pattern of ones and zeroes or some other desired digitalsignal pattern. The specific pattern is not significant as long as itcan be transmitted, predicted or repeated for comparison purposes withinthe event detector and timestamp circuitry 120, and as long as it can bereceived by the deserializer 116. For example, some deserializerimplementations may require that a received bit stream have sufficienttransitions between the logic 0 and 1 levels to enable clock recovery,and some deserializer implementations may require that the signal havean equal number of logic 0 and logic 1 values to ensure DC balance withrespect to the incoming signals. As such, the digital signal patternutilized can be selected with consideration given to theserializer/deserializer circuitry being used.

It is further noted that the pattern generator 104 and the serializer106 could also be implemented more simply, if desired, as a high speedclock generator configured to generate a fixed pattern at a high speedclock rate. For example, a clock generator operating at 5 GHz could beconfigured to output a fixed pattern, such as 10101010101010 . . . , andthis fixed pattern could be used as the digital signal pattern providedto the logic circuitry 110. It is further noted that the deserializer116 could be implemented using memory circuitry configured to store themodified bit stream from the logic circuitry 110, and this modified bitstream, once stored, could be later analyzed by any of a wide variety ofprocessing systems to determine the location of events within themodified bit stream. The deserializer 116 and event detector andtimestamp circuitry 120 are simply one implementation that could be usedto detect the event occurrence within the modified bit stream.

As described above, the high speed serializer 106 in embodiment 200takes the parallel information words provided by the pattern generator104 and transmits them serially at high speed as a differential signalto logic gates within logic circuitry 110 that can be configured toperform an XOR logic function. The fan-out buffer 112 and themultiplexer (MUX) 114 are connected together to perform the XOR logicfunction by taking advantage of the fact that swapping the positive andnegative signals that form a differential pair, as represented thecross-over 111, causes the logic values to be inverted. Thus, themultiplexer 114 selects either the original signal or its logicalinverse based upon the event occurrence signal 123 input as a controlsignal to the multiplexer 114. It is noted that for performancepurposes, it is desirable for the length of the physical connectionsbetween the fan-out buffer 112 and the multiplexer 114 to be configuredto be relatively short and matched as closely as is practicallypossible, so that the position of the edges of the output signals fromthe multiplexer 114 do not depend on which input the multiplexerselects. In other words, it is desirable that the delay through thefan-out/multiplexer circuitry be ideally the same regardless of whetherthe multiplexer selects the true or inverted version of the bit streamsignal lines from the fan-out buffer 112.

It is also noted that fan-out buffer 112 and multiplexer 114 provide oneimplementation for logic circuitry that implements an XOR function. Thelogic circuitry 110 could also be implemented using a high speed XORgate device or other logic circuitry, if desired. However, it is notedthat at very high speeds, such as speeds at or over 1 Gbps, fan-outbuffers and multiplexers are more commonly available than logic gates.Further, very high speed electrical signals are often implemented usingdifferential signals, which makes it possible to implement an XOR gatewith a fan-out buffer and a multiplexer as depicted in FIG. 2A. However,it is again noted that other implementations and circuitry could beused, as desired, to implement the logic circuitry 110. For example,instead of a fan-out buffer a passive signal splitter could also be usedthat is configured to provide signals to both inputs of the multiplexerwithout excessively degrading the signal. A passive signal splitter canbe used to split an input signal into a plurality of output copies,where each of the output copies has less power than the input signal,but the sum of the power levels of the output signals is approximatelythe same as the input signal power level. Other circuit variations couldalso be used, if desired.

The asynchronous event detector 124 within the event detection circuitry125 detects a signal event of interest for which it is desired tomeasure timing associated with the occurrence of the signal event. Asone example, the event detector 124 may be circuitry that detects risingor falling edges of a clock signal or that detects significant events ofinterest in any desired information signal. As another example, theasynchronous event detector 124 may detect the precise instant oftransmission or reception of a network packet at a particular networkinterface. As such, the events being measured can be associated withnetwork packet arrival events or network packet departure events orboth. Typically, a rising edge and/or a falling edge on a signal from anevent source can be used to convey the occurrence of the event, but thisoccurrence could also be conveyed by the leading edge of a pulse, forexample. It is further noted that the asynchronous event detector 124can be any desired circuitry used to detect a desired signal event. Andthe signal event can be any desired electronic signal event. Thus, awide range of electronic systems can be the source of the signal event,and the event detector circuitry 124 detects that the event beingmonitored or tested has occurred. The event detector circuitry 124 canthen output a signal indicating that the event has occurred to the eventconditioning circuitry 126, if desired, or could output the eventoccurrence signal 123 directly to the logic circuitry 110, if desired.

It is further noted that the events being detected and measured aresometimes referred to herein as asynchronous events in that the exacttime of the signal event occurrence and/or the exact time period betweensuccessive event occurrences is not pre-determined, although there couldbe predicted or desired times or time periods. For example, even if anoutput signal is being clocked using a synchronous clock signal, theactual occurrence of each output may not exactly align with the desiredoutput clock period. Thus, there would be a desired or predicted timeperiod, but the actual timing could vary for any given clock cycle orfrom clock cycle to clock cycle. For example, operational variations inthe synchronous clock signal and/or operational variations in the outputcircuitry could lead to variations in the actual timing associated withthe signal being monitored or detected. As such, while the output isdesired to be synchronous in an ideal sense, the actual output may benon-ideal and have variations. For example, if outputs from phase lockedloop (PLL) circuitry were being detected, the inherent phase noise inthe PLL would lead to unavoidable non-ideal behavior, and this jitterand wander can be measured through the detection of signal eventsassociated with the PLL output signals. As such, the non-ideal eventbeing detected is considered to be an asynchronous signal event as usedherein even though it may be associated with a synchronous clock orsignal. The embodiments described herein allow for precise measurementof the actual event occurrence so that timing information associatedwith the variations in the actual events can be determined and analyzed,as desired. This ability to provide precise timing information forevents is advantageous. For example, this precise timing information isadvantageous for use with test and measurement, monitoring and/oremulation systems. Network emulation systems that are used to emulateand test network systems and environments are one example of systemsthat can take advantage of the embodiments described herein.

The event conditioning circuitry 126, if needed, converts the eventindication signals from the event detector circuitry 124 into a formatsuitable for use with the logic circuitry 110. For example, for theembodiment depicted, the event conditioning circuitry 126 can convertthe event signal from the event detector 123 to a differential inputsignal 123 for use as the control signal to the multiplexer 114. Thisconditioning may include, for example, one or more of the followingoperations: converting the signal from single-ended logic levels todifferential logic levels, increasing or decreasing the slew rate of theedges of the signal, converting pulses into single edges, adjusting therate at which detected events are provided to the logic circuitry 110(e.g., prescale the event signals) and/or any other desired conversionof the event signal from one format to another so that it is suitablefor the logic circuitry 110 being utilized. Further, the eventconditioning circuitry 126 may not be needed in certain circumstancesand the event detector circuitry 124 can directly provide the eventoccurrence signal 123 to the logic circuitry 110. Further, in somecircumstances, the signal to be monitored or measured can be directlyapplied to the logic circuitry 110 as the event occurrence signal 123,if desired, without using event detection circuitry 125. Still further,as described with respect to FIGS. 6A-6C below, the event occurrencesignal 123 can also be provided directly to the deserializer circuitry116, if desired. Further, it is noted that the event occurrence signal123 can be a digital signal or analog signal, as desired, where adigital signal is one that is configured to move between two logiclevels (e.g., high logic level and low logic level) and where an analogsignal is one that is configured to move between three or more voltagelevels.

The high speed deserializer 116 takes the differential high speed serialsignal from the multiplexer 114 and converts it to a lower speedparallel signal. Further, if desired, the high speed deserializer 116can also operate to recover a clock signal from the bit stream signal.For example, a clock signal can be recovered by observing the edges inthe high speed signal and then clocking the received signal intoflip-flops. This operation of a deserializer to obtain clock signalsfrom received bit streams is one traditional technique for utilizing adeserializer to receive high speed bit streams from a serializer. Theevent detector and timestamp circuitry 120 can then take the receivedparallel signal and produce precise timestamps, as described in moredetail below.

With respect to the data input and output rates being used, it is notedthat it is generally desirable for the output rate of the single-bitserial data from the serializer circuitry 106 and the output rate of thesingle-bit serial data from the logic circuitry 110 be faster than theoutput rate of multi-bit parallel data from the pattern generatorcircuitry 104 and the multi-bit parallel data from the deserializer 116.For example, these single-bit serial data rates can each be two times ormore faster than the multi-bit parallel data rates, if desired, andpreferably at least four times or more faster than the multi-bit daterates. Further, if desired, the output rate of multi-bit parallel datafrom the pattern generator circuitry 104 and the output rate of themulti-bit parallel data from the deserializer circuitry 116 can be basedupon the reference clock signal 118. Still further, these multi-bitrates can be the same. It is also noted that the N-bit data and theM-bit data could be the same data width so that N and M are the same, ifdesired, although different data widths could also be used.

It is noted that the bit period associated with the high speed operationof the serializer circuitry 106, the logic circuitry 110 and thedeserializer circuitry 116 depends upon the circuitry used. In someimplementations, the controlling factor for the bit period resolution isthe speed at which the serializer and deserializer are configured tooperate. For example, if serializer and deserializer circuitry designedfor 10 G Ethernet communications are utilized, then the bit period forthe high speed bit stream for such an implementation would be about 100picoseconds (i.e., 1/10 GHz). The reference clock 118 and the width (N)of the output of the pattern generator 104 can then be selected basedupon the speed of the serializer/deserializer such that the rate of thereference clock times the width (N) of the output of the patterngenerator 104 is equal to the speed (CLK_(HIGH) _(—) _(SPEED)) of theserializer/deserializer (i.e., CLK_(REF)×N=CLK_(HIGH) _(—) _(SPEED)).Similarly, the reference clock used by the high speed deserializer 116times the width (M) of the output of the deserializer 116 can beselected to be equal to the speed of the serializer/deserializer(CLK_(REF)×M=CLK_(HIGH) _(—) _(SPEED)). If the same reference clock 118is used, or recovered and used, for the high speed deserializer 116, thewidth (M) of the output of the high speed deserializer 104 can be setequal to the width (N) of the output of the pattern generator 104. It isnoted that the serializer and deserializer are often internallyconfigured to multiply a reference clock by the parallel word width(e.g., N or M) to produce clock signals for the high speed serial bitstream. Thus, serializer circuitry operating at 5 GHz with a 32-bitparallel word input would use a reference clock of 156.25 MHz, and adeserializer operating at 5 GHz with a 32-bit parallel word output wouldalso use a reference clock of 156.25 MHz.

As described herein, the serializer circuitry 106 converts each N-bitword of the digital signal pattern to single-bit serial data. Assumingthat CLK_(REF)×N=CLK_(HIGH) _(—) _(SPEED) as described above, there areN different high speed bit periods within each reference clock cycle.When the bit period associated with the occurrence of the event isdetermined, this bit period can be used to determine a timestamp for theoccurrence of the event signal, as described in more detail below. Thus,rather than having a resolution dependent upon the reference clock rate118, the system has a resolution that is based at least in part upon thebit period for the operation of the high speed serializer circuitry 106,logic circuitry 110 and deserializer circuitry 116. For example,assuming the high speed bit rate is about 5 GHz, then the timingresolution would be on the order of about 200 picoseconds (i.e., ⅕ GHzor about 200 ps). Assuming the high speed bit rate is about 10 GHz, thenthe timing resolution would be improved to the order of about 100picoseconds (i.e., 1/10 GHz or about 100 ps). As such, using theembodiments described herein, timing resolutions of 100-200 picosecondsor better can be achieved, depending upon the implementations utilizedfor the circuitry described herein. Further, as described below,additional techniques, such as offset time measurements, can be used tofurther improve the resolution and to provide even finer resolution forthe timestamps associated with detected events.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of an embodiment for event detector andtimestamp circuitry 120 that can be utilized to provide precisetimestamps associated with detected events. As depicted, the eventdetector and timestamp circuitry 120 includes pattern predictorcircuitry 202, bitwise comparison logic circuitry 204, priority encoder206, timestamp circuitry 208 and time counter 210. Modified digitalsignal pattern data 113 from the deserializer 116 and the referenceclock signal 118 are inputs to the event detector and timestampcircuitry 120, and an event pulse 212 and a precise timestamp 214 areoutputs. As depicted, the reference clock signal 118 is connected to,and can be utilized by, the pattern predictor circuitry 202, the bitwisecomparison logic circuitry 204, the priority encoder 206 and the timecounter 210. It is noted that the reference clock 118 in FIG. 2B can bethe same reference clock as used in FIG. 1 for the serializer circuitry106, or the reference clock 118 used in FIG. 2B could be recovered fromthe bit stream received by the deserializer 116, if desired. It is againnoted, as described herein, that each of these circuit blocks can beconfigured, if desired, to utilize this reference clock signal 118 or aclock signal based upon this reference clock signal 118 for timing ofits operations. If a recovered clock 118 is used as the reference clockin FIG. 2B, the time counter 120 could still be configured to operateusing the original reference clock 118 from the reference clockgenerator 102.

In operation, the modified digital signal pattern data 113 from thedeserializer circuitry 116 is provided to the pattern predictorcircuitry 202 and to the bitwise comparison logic circuitry 204. Thepattern predictor 202 outputs a predicted digital signal pattern to thebitwise comparison logic circuitry 204, which then compares thispredicted digital signal pattern to the modified digital signal patternfrom the deserializer circuitry. When an event occurrence is detectedfrom this comparison, an event pulse 212 is generated and output to thepriority encoder 206, to the timestamp circuitry 208 and as an output toother circuitry. As described in more detail below, the priority encoder206 receives XOR data 216 from the bitwise comparison logic, and thepriority encoder 206 provides output signals to the timestamp circuitry208. The timestamp circuitry 208 also receives data from the timecounter 210 and generates a precise timestamp 214 associated with adetected event.

The pattern predictor circuitry 202 can be configured to process thereceived data from the deserializer and form a prediction of theoriginal (non-inverted) bit sequence. A variety of techniques can beemployed for the prediction, as desired. For example, if the informationpattern is based on a simple counting scheme, then the predictorcircuitry 202 can observe the data and produce a counting patternsynchronized to the received signal. If the information pattern is basedon an alternating ones and zeroes pattern, then the predictor circuitry202 may be as simple as selecting one of several fixed referencepatterns. If the information pattern is based on a pseudo random bitsequence, the predictor circuitry 202 may be formed by Galois finitefield arithmetic. Other prediction techniques can also be used, asdesired, depending upon the nature of the digital signal pattern datagenerated by the pattern generator circuitry 104. In short, the patternpredictor circuitry 202 is configured to reliably predict what theoriginal non-inverted signal pattern was for each reference clock cycle.It is noted that where the events being measured happen relativelyinfrequently with respect to the bits in the digital signal pattern, thepattern predictor circuitry 202 can take advantage of this time betweenevents to synchronize and lock to the incoming signal. In addition, themeasurement of events can be suppressed for an initial time period forthe purpose of this synchronization and locking to the incoming signal,if desired.

It is further noted that the digital signal pattern can be directlyprovided to the measurement circuitry rather than having to be recoveredor predicted so that the predicted or desired digital signal pattern isbased on this directly received digital signal pattern. However, if thisis done, then it is also desirable to determine the propagation delayassociated with the modified bit stream being received and measured. Forexample, a known pattern with a sufficiently long period can be chosensuch that the delay from the pattern generator to the time measurementcircuitry can be determined. The propagation delay can then bedetermined, for example, by measuring an elapsed time between thegeneration of the start of the pattern and the reception of that patternin the measurement circuitry. This propagation delay can then be used toalign the digital signal pattern with the modified digital signalpattern.

The bitwise comparison logic 204 compares the predicted pattern and thedata from the deserializer. The comparison in the embodiment depicted inFIG. 2B is performed by computing the exclusive-OR (XOR) of thepredicted signal pattern data and the modified signal pattern data fromthe deserializer. If the result of the XOR operation is an all zeroespattern, then the prediction matches the non-inverted pattern, and noevent is determined to be present. If the result of the XOR operation isan all ones pattern, then the prediction matches the inverted pattern,and no event is determined to be present. If the result of the XORoperation is any other pattern, an event is detected, and an event pulse212 is generated. Finally, if the result of the comparison changes froman all-zeroes pattern directly to an all-ones pattern (or vice versa),this also represents an event and causes an event pulse 212 to begenerated. It is further noted that other comparison operations couldalso be performed by the comparison logic 204, if desired. For example,an XNOR logic operation could be utilized, if desired, or some otherlogic or bit comparison operation to identify changes between thepredicted digital signal pattern data and the modified digital signalpattern data.

The result of the XOR operation is provided to the priority encoder 206.(It is noted that result of the XOR operation is sometimes referred toas a thermometer code.) The priority encoder 206 counts the number ofconsecutive one bits or zero bits in the XOR data word to determine theposition of the event within the parallel data word. In the case wherethe XOR operation changes from an all zeroes pattern to zeroes followedby nonzero values, the priority encoder 206 counts the number of leadingzeroes. In the case where the exclusive or operation changes from an allones pattern to ones followed by zeroes (and possibly ones), thepriority encoder 206 counts the number of leading ones. This indicationof the number of consecutive zeroes or ones is then provided to thetimestamp circuitry 208 as then used as an indication of the bit periodwhere the event occurred.

The time counter circuitry 210 can be implemented as a conventionalbinary counter operated by the reference clock signal 118. For example,a binary counter that is 32-bits or 48-bits wide could be utilizeddepending on the desired range of time values for measurement. Otherresolutions could also be utilized, as desired. The time countercircuitry 210 is utilized to keep a time count. For example, the timecounter circuitry 210 can be configured to count up by one time unit ateach rising edge of the reference clock signal 118. In one embodiment,the time counter 210 can be 48-bits wide and operate at about 156.25 MHzbased upon a reference clock signal 118 operating at that rate. Thevalue of the time counter 210 is then provided as an input to thetimestamp circuitry 208.

The timestamp circuitry 208 receives the event pulse 212, an input fromthe priority encoder 206, and an input from the time counter circuitry210. When the event pulse 212 indicates that an event has been detected,the timestamp circuitry 208 can be configured to take the output of thepriority encoder 206 and the output of the time counter circuitry 210,perform bitwise concatenation, and then store the result in one or moreregisters as a precise timestamp 214 that can be output for use by othercircuitry. This precise timestamp 214 represents the relative pointwithin the modified signal pattern that the event was detected.

It is noted that the time counter circuitry 210 can be implemented as afree running counter that simply resets to zero when it gets to the endof its range. However, it is also possible to synchronize the timecounter circuitry 210 to a time-of-day input signal, such as from a GPS(global positioning system) receiver or other time synchronizationsignal. Such an implementation allows precise timestamps from two ormore locations to be meaningfully compared with each other because theywould share a common time reference. Such an implementation also allowsmeasurements to be made based on the difference between two precisetimestamp values, such as one-way packet delay measurements. It is notedthat for packet arrival or timestamp information, the ideal timestampand error circuitry described with respect to FIG. 4 below may not beneeded. With respect to some protocols, network packets will haveexplicit or implied time information within them relating to when theywere sent. This packet time information can be used in combination witha timestamp generated from FIG. 2B to provide desired informationrelating to the transmission time of the packet or other desired timingrelated analysis.

FIG. 3 provides a diagram of an embodiment for example data associatedwith the detection and timestamping of events. As depicted, column 302(Time Counter) represents an output of the time counter circuitry 210.Column 304 (Rx Data) represents modified digital signal pattern dataoutput by the deserializer circuitry 116. Column 306 (Pred Data)represents the predicted digital signal pattern data produced by thepattern predictor circuitry 202. Column 308 (XOR data) represents theoutput signals 216 from the bitwise comparison logic circuitry 204 wherean XOR operation is conducted on the Rx Data from column 304 and thePred Data from column 306. Column 310 (Event Pulse) represents the eventpulse output 212 from the bitwise comparison logic 216 that indicatesthat an event occurrence has been detected in the modified digitalsignal pattern based upon the comparison. Column 312 (Precise Timestamp)represents a timestamp output 214 that is generated and stored by thetimestamp circuitry 208 upon receiving the event pulse signal 212 asindicating detection of an event within the modified signal patterndata. Column 314 (Ideal Timestamp) represents an ideal timestamp thatwould be expected if the events being detected were operating ideally.And column 316 (Time Error) represents a time error associated with acomparison of the precise timestamp information 214 with the idealtimestamp in column 314.

The data in the columns in FIG. 3 are now described in further detailwith respect to the operation of the embodiments depicted herein. It isalso noted that the embodiment of FIG. 3 provides one example ofpossible data patterns and different embodiments could be implemented asdesired. For example, the time counter output in column 302 is depictedas producing a count that is one hexadecimal (or hex) digit wide (i.e.,4-bits per hex digit). A time counter could be utilized that has greator smaller resolution, as desired. For example, a 32-bit or 48-bitcounter could be utilized, as indicated above. It is also noted that theRxData and PredData in columns 304 and 306, respectively, are only 4 hexdigits wide (i.e., 16-bits or 4-bits per hex digit), and other datawidths could be used, as desired, such as the 32-bit or 64-bit examplesindicated above. It is further noted that that the “0x” designationsused for values such as “0x3” are being used to represent thathexadecimal expressions are being used and not for another purpose.Other variations could also be implemented as desired. It is also notedthat pipeline delays that would occur within the circuitry of FIG. 1A,1C and FIG. 2B are not depicted in this example in order to more clearlyillustrate the operation of the example embodiment.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, two events are shown to have beendetected. One occurs in row 320 corresponding to time counter value 0x3(i.e., binary value of 0011). The other occurs in the row 322corresponding to time counter value 0x8 (i.e., binary value of 1000). Itis noted that the binary values presented herein are separated into4-bit groups so that their correspondence to the hex digits expressed inFIG. 3 can more easily be understood. As such, it is understood that thedash “-” that appears below between each 4 bits is being used to providethis separation and not for another purpose.

The data pattern shown in the RxData column 304 and the PredData column306 corresponds to a type of counting pattern in which subsequentfour-bit values count up (e.g., nibble counting). As depicted, four hexdigits are being used to represent the values being generated andcompared. For example, in row 324, the RxData is 0x0123 (i.e., binaryvalue of 0000-0001-0010-0011), and the PredData is also 0x0123 (i.e.,binary value of 0000-0001-0010-0011), where each digit represents a hexnumber. One advantage of this pattern is that it can be easilyillustrated and implemented. However, other patterns could also be used,as indicated above. For example, an X¹⁸ polynomial could be used togenerate a pseudo-random bit sequence for the digital signal patternoutput to the serializer circuitry 106 and predicted by the patternpredictor circuitry 202. As noted earlier, it is also possible to usefixed patterns as well. For example, a fixed pattern and a linearfeedback shift register (LFSR) could be used to generate the digitalsignal pattern. Other patterns could also be implemented and utilized ifdesired.

The XOR-data column 308 and the EventPulse column 310 show the result ofcomparing the received data (RxData) and the predicted data (PredData)in columns 308 and 310, respectfully, using an XOR logic operation. Asshown in the XOR-data column 308, the result of the XOR logic operationwill be all zeroes (i.e., 0x0000 or binary value of 0000-0000-0000-0000)where the PredData in column 306 is the same as the RxData in column304. Row 324 provides an example for this XOR-data result. The resultsof the XOR logic operation will be all ones except for the leadingzeroes from the first hex digit comparison (i.e., 0xFFFF or binary valueof 1111-1111-1111-1111) where the PredData in column 306 is the inverseof the RxData in column 304. Row 326 provides an example for thisXOR-data results.

The EventPulse in column 310 will trigger or transition from zero to one(e.g., be a 1 in column 310) to show that an event has been detected incases where the XOR-data in column 308 is neither 0x0000 nor 0xFFFF. Inthe example depicted, this occurs in row 320 and row 322.

For the first event in row 320, the XOR-data in column 308 is 0x03FF(i.e., binary value of 0000-0011-1111-1111). This XOR-data has resultedfrom an XOR logic operation using as inputs the RxData of 0xCE10 (i.e.,binary value of 0000-1100-1110-0001-0000) in column 304 and the PredDataof 0xCDEF (i.e., binary value of 0000-1100-1101-1110-1111) in column306.

To generate the timestamp associated with the event in row 320, the timecounter data in column 302 is concatenated with the location of theevent with the XOR-data of column 308. As described above, the eventoccurrence location is indicated by the transition from zeroes to onesor from ones to zeroes in the XOR output data, which indicates theoccurrence of the event within the modified digital signal patternreceived in column 304 (RxData). Looking to row 320, the eventoccurrence is represented by the transition from zeroes to ones in theXOR-data. In particular, it is seen that the 03FF portion of the resultof the XOR operation corresponds to six consecutive leading zeroesfollowed by ones (i.e., 0x03FF has binary value of 0000-0011-1111-1111).Because this event has occurred during the 0x3 clock cycle, the value0x3 is concatenated with 0x6 to obtain a precise timestamp of 0x36.

For the second event in row 322, the XOR-data in column 308 is 0xFFE0(i.e., binary value of 1111-1111-1110-0000). This XOR-data has resultedfrom an XOR logic operation using as inputs the RxData of 0xFEC3 (i.e.,binary value of 1111-1110-1100-0011) in column 304 and the PredData of0x0123 (i.e., binary value of 0000-0001-0010-0011) in column 306.

To generate the timestamp associated with the event in row 322, the timecounter data in column 302 is again concatenated with the location ofthe event with the XOR-data of column 308. Looking to row 322, the eventoccurrence is represented by the transition from ones to zeroes. Inparticular, it is seen that the FFE0 portion of the result of the XORoperation corresponds to eleven consecutive leading ones followed byzeroes (i.e., FFE0 has binary value of 1111-1111-1110-0000). Becausethis event has occurred during the 0x8 clock cycle, the value 0x8 isconcatenated with 0xB (e.g., B is the hexadecimal equivalent of eleven)to obtain a precise timestamp of 0x8B.

Timestamps can also be used to determine time errors, if desired. Anexample of a time error determination is provided with respect tocolumns 314 and 316, and a further described with respect to FIG. 4below. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the timestamp 0x36 for the firstevent in row 320 is used as an initial value and as an ideal timestampfor the event that occurred in row 320. This is shown in Ideal Timestampcolumn 314 where 0x36 is included for row 320. Because this 0x36 valueis being used as an initial condition, the value in the Time Errorcolumn 316 for row 320 is set at 0 or no time error. If the events beingdetected are assumed to ideally occur at equal intervals of the timecounter 302, then the expected ideal timestamp for an event that wouldoccur in row 322 would be 0x5 clock periods after the event in row 320.Because the precise timestamps have been concatenated with the eventpulse timing, the ideal timestamp for an event in row 322 as compared tothe initial event in row 320 is determined to be 0x86. This is becausethe previous ideal timestamp was 0x36, and the ideal clock periodincluding the concatenation is 0x50 in hexadecimal (i.e., eighty bitperiods in this example as there are assumed to be 16 high speed bitperiods for each time counter clock period). As such, 0x86 is the idealtimestamp for the event occurring in row 322, as 0x36 plus 0x50 equals0x86 in the representations being used in FIG. 3. For row 322, the timeerror value for the second event is calculated as the difference betweenthe ideal timestamp in column 314 and the precise timestamp in column312. Because the actual measured time from first event to second eventis 0x8B-0x36=0x55 (i.e., 85 bit periods), and the ideal or expected timefrom first event to the second event is 0x50 (i.e., 80 bit periods), thetime error is −5 bit periods (i.e., 0x86-0x8B=−0x05 in hex or −5 bitperiods).

It is again noted that the timing resolution of the high speed bitperiod is typically determined by the rate at which the serializercircuitry 106 is transmitting the bit stream that represents the digitalsignal pattern and/or by the rate at which the deserializer circuitry116 is receiving the bit stream. As described above, this bit stream canbe based upon the data words output by the digital signal patterngenerator 104. The serializer circuitry 106 and deserializer circuitry116 then operate at a higher speed to serialize and deserialize thesedigital data words. The number of high speed bit periods between eachevent can then be determined and used to provide useful timinginformation relating to the events. As described herein, this timinginformation associated with detected events can be used in a widevariety of different ways, as desired, to provide time relatedinformation and analysis associated with the events.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment 400 for additional timestampprocessing circuitry that can be utilized to provide additionalinformation associated with the detection of events, such as time errorsassociated with events. The circuitry of embodiment 400, for example,could be used in producing the ideal timestamps and time errorsdiscussed above with respect to FIG. 3.

In the embodiment 400 depicted, the timestamp processing circuitryembodiment 400 includes an ideal timestamp generator 402, a time errorcalculator 404, a minimum/maximum (min/max) value detector 406, asampler 408 and a measurement interval timer 410. The embodiment 400, asan example, can provide as outputs a maximum error signal 424, a minimumerror signal 426, time error samples 430, and missed measurementindications 428. The embodiment 400, as an example, can have as inputsthe event pulse 212, the precise timestamp 214 and the reference clocksignal 118. The reference clock signal 118 can be provided to allcircuit blocks, if desired. It is again noted, as described herein, thateach of these circuit blocks can be configured, if desired, to utilizethis reference clock signal 118 or a clock signal based upon thisreference clock signal 118 for timing of its operations. The embodiment400 can also have as inputs a min/max reset signal 412, an ideal clockperiod 414, a resynchronization pulse signal 416 and a measurement timeinterval signal 418.

In the embodiment depicted, the ideal timestamp generator 402 receivesthe precise timestamp signal 214, the ideal clock period signal 414, theresynchronization pulse 416 and the event pulse 212, along with thereference clock signal 118, if desired. The ideal timestamp generator402 processes these inputs and outputs an ideal timestamp 420 to thetime error calculator 404. The time error calculator also receives theprecise timestamp 214 and the event pulse 212, along with the referenceclock signal 118, if desired. The time error calculator processes theseinputs and outputs time error values 422 to the min/max detector 406 andthe sampler 408.

The ideal timestamp generator 402 receives event pulses 212 andcalculates ideal timestamp values 420 by adding the ideal clock period414 to an accumulator within the ideal timestamp generator 402. Theideal clock period 414 represents the time expected between events. Ateach event pulse received, the accumulator is increased by the amountgiven by the ideal clock period 414. As such, the ideal timestamp 420being provided to the time error calculator 404 will be increased by theideal clock period 414 after each event pulse received on signal line212. The time error calculator 404 then compares the ideal timestamp tothe precise timestamp received on signal line 214 to generate the timeerror values 422. For example, at each event pulse, the time errorcalculator 404 can be configured to subtract the ideal timestamp fromthe precise timestamp to calculate a time error value. If it is desiredto resynchronize the ideal timestamp generator 402 to measured values(such as at the beginning of a test interval), the ideal timestampgenerator 402 loads the precise timestamp value 214 at the occurrence ofthe event pulse received on signal line 212 instead of performing theaccumulation.

In addition to the time error values 422, the min/max detector 406 canalso receive the event pulse signal 212, along with the reference clocksignal 118, if desired. The min/max detector 406 is configured to storethe maximum error value detected and the minimum error value detected.It is also noted that rather than storing both, the detector 406 couldbe configured to store only one of these parameters. Further, an averagetime error based upon the detected time error values could also bedetermined and stored, if desired. The min/max reset signal 412 is usedto reset the min/max 406 so that it restarts its tracking of minimum andmaximum error values. Typically, this min/max reset signal 412 would beapplied at the beginning of a measurement cycle, concurrent with theresetting of the ideal timestamp generator 402. The min/max detector 406can then output a maximum error value 424 and/or a minimum error value426 to other circuitry, as desired.

In operation, therefore, the min/max detector 406 compares the currenttime error value 422 from the time error calculator 404 with the largestand smallest time error values that have been observed. If the currenttime error value is greater than the maximum previously observed value,the current time error value is saved as the new maximum. Likewise, ifthe current time error value is less than the minimum previouslyobserved value, the current time error value is saved as the newminimum. If it is desired to reset the minimum and maximum values, suchas at the beginning of a test interval, the reset min/max signal 412 isasserted thereby causing the next time error value to be saved in boththe minimum and maximum value registers. It is noted that determiningthe minimum and maximum time error values before or apart from thesampler 408 allows more accurate determination of the minimum andmaximum time error values because the sampler 408 may be configured todiscard a large proportion of the samples, as described further below.As such, the sampler 408 may not have sampled and stored the largest orsmallest values. It is further noted that in certain circumstances, itmay be desirable to also record the time at which the largest andsmallest time error values occurred. If so, the event pulse 212 or othertimestamp information can be used to provide this timing information.

Still further, it is noted that the min/max detector 406 could be resetduring each measurement interval, so that for each measurement intervalthere would be a minimum and maximum value stored in addition to asample of the time error value 422. As noted below, this measurementinterval can be controlled using the control signal 409, and thiscontrol signal 409 can also be provided to the min/max detector 406, ifdesired, to facilitate the resetting of the min/max detector 406 foreach measurement interval.

In addition to the time error values 422, the sampler 408 also receivesthe control signal 409 from the measurement interval timer 410, alongwith the reference clock signal 118, if desired. This control signal 409can be used to determine when the sampler 408 samples or acquires timeerror values from the time error values 422. The sampler 408 can thenoutput time error sample values 430 to other circuitry, as desired. Asstated above, the control signal 409 can also be provided to the min/maxdetector 406, if desired. Further, all of the time error values 422 canbe stored and output, if desired.

The measurement interval timer 410 receives the resynchronization pulse416, the event pulse 212 and the measurement interval signal 418, alongwith the reference clock signal 118, if desired. The measurementinterval timer 410 can be implemented as a counter that determines howoften the calculated time error values 422 should be saved by thesampler 408, based on the given measurement interval value 418. Themeasurement interval timer 410 can generate the control signal 409 thatis applied to sampler 408 and that is used by sampler 408 to determinewhen it samples or acquires the time error value 422. The sampler 408can then store this sampled time error value. This use of control signal409 allows measurements to be taken at regular intervals despite thefact that the signal being measured may not be regular. For example, itmay be desired to sample the time error values 422 coming into sampler408 at a rate of 100 times per second, in which case the measurementinterval 418 could be set to 10 ms, and the measurement interval timer410 would assert control signal 409 every 10 ms to cause the samplercircuitry to sample the time error value signal 422 every 10 ms. Becausethe time error calculator 404 may be producing time error values at ahigher rate, the sampler 408 will only be sampling and storing certaintime error values, and other non-sampled time error values will simplybe ignored or discarded. Further, if desired, all of the time errorvalues 422 can be sampled, stored and output.

The measurement interval timer 410 can also operate to detect a missedmeasurement by checking that at least one event pulse occurs during ameasurement interval. In one embodiment, this determination canaccomplished by setting a flag (e.g., one or more bits in a register)when the control signal 409 is asserted and then clearing this flag whenan event pulse is observed on the event pulse signal 212. If the flag isstill set when the control signal 409 is asserted the next time, thisresult indicates that an event pulse did not arrive during themeasurement interval, and therefore a measurement was missed. One likelycause of this situation is where the signal being measured has beendisconnected from the measurement apparatus. Missed measurements canalso occur when the input signal being measured is lost, for example,when it is disconnected or the signal source is disabled. If the flag isno longer set when the control signal 409 is asserted the next time, adetermination can be made that a measurement was not missed. Themeasurement interval timer 410 can output a missed measurementindication signal 428 to other circuitry, as desired.

It is noted that the embodiment 400 allows for the precise timestamps tobe used to determine any of a wide variety of desired parameters. Forexample, with respect to periodic signals, various time errors can bedetermined, such as maximum time interval error (MTIE), time deviation(TDEV), and/or other desired time or error related parameters. MTIE is aparameter that typically represents the maximum time error that hasoccurred within a particular time interval. TDEV is a parameter thattypically represents deviations in time associated with periodic events.As described above, time error can be considered to be the differencebetween the ideal time at which an event is expected to occur and theactual time at which it is measured to have occurred.

It is further noted that the ideal timestamp calculation can beconfigured to represent a greater precision than the actual measurement,if desired. For example, fractional clock periods can be used torepresent the ideal clock period 414 in FIG. 4, and these fractionalclock periods can be helpful in certain measurement circumstances. Forexample, fractional clock periods can simplify the event conditioningcircuitry 126 for situations where a clock signal is being measured thatdoes not have an integer relationship with respect to the high speed bitrate and where the event conditioning circuitry 126 is being used toprescale the clock signal so that an even number of high speed bitperiods occur within each clock cycle for the clock being measured.

For example, consider a configuration to measure wander on a 2.048 MHzclock with a 5 GHz serial bit stream being used by the serializercircuitry. In this situation, the measured clock can be divided by 64within the event conditioning circuit 126 to obtain a 32 kHz clock sothat the ideal time between timestamps is exactly 156,250 high speedbits (i.e., 5 GHz divided by 32 kHz where 32 kHz is the largest commondivisor of 2.048 MHz and 5 GHz). This is shown in TABLE 2 below formeasurements associated with four different clock frequencies ofinterest that are commonly used by clock circuitry in various devices.

TABLE 2 Example Bit Periods Clk Freq to be Prescale Resulting Ideal clkperiod in Measured Factor Freq 5 GHZ bit periods 125 MHz 1 125 MHz 40156.25 MHz 1 156.25 MHz 32 2.048 MHz 64 32 kHz 156,250 1.544 MHz 193 8kHz 625,000

If instead, the ideal timestamp generator 402 is implemented with six“fractional” bits, so that time quantities of 3.125 picoseconds arerepresentable (e.g., bit periods assumed to represent 1/(5 GHz*64) or3.125 picoseconds), then the pre-division or prescaling of the 2.048 MHzclock by 64 would not be required. Instead, the calculation would be asfollows: 5 GHz times 64 divided by 2.048 MHz. The result is still156,250 bit periods, but now the ideal clock period 414 is measured inunits of 3.125 ps. The calculation for the prescale factor to be appliedin the event conditioning circuitry 126 then becomes determining thegreatest common divisor of 320 GHz and the clock being measured, whichin this case is 2.048 MHz, and the greatest common denominator is 2.048MHz. This is shown in TABLE 3 below.

TABLE 3 Example Fractional Bit Clock Periods Ideal clk period Clk Freqto Prescale Resulting in 320 GHZ be Measured Factor Freq bit periods 125MHz 1 125 MHz 2,560 156.25 MHz 1 156.25 MHz 2,048 2.048 MHz 1 2.048 MHz156,250 1.544 MHz 193 8 kHz 40,00,000

The advantage of this fractional bit period enhancement is that timeerrors for fractionally related clock frequencies can be more easilycalculated, and furthermore the time errors can be calculated moreoften. Advantageously, having more measurements gives more flexibilityto perform statistical operations (such as average, min/max etc).

However, the above enhancement does not help in the case of 1.544 MHzbecause of the factor of 193, which is a relatively large prime number.In order to keep the prescale factor at 1 for the 1.544 MHz case, afurther enhancement for the 1.544 MHz case above can be implemented.This enhancement uses two or more clock period values 414 in apredefined pattern within the ideal timestamp generator 402. A simpleexample of such a circuit is a dual modulus circuit which alternatesbetween two different clock periods according to a relatively simplepredefined sequence. A more complex example of such a circuit allows apredefined sequence of multiple values to be used. For example, the1.544 MHz example could be accommodated for a prescale factor of 1 withtwo ideal clock bit period values: 207,254 and 207,253. Alternatingbetween these two bit period values according to the following sequenceas shown in TABLE 4 below will allow a measurement at every edge of a1.544 MHz signal (read across first, then down).

TABLE 4 Example of Multiple Bit Clock Periods 207,254 (7×) 207,253207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254(7×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (8×)207,253 207,254 (7×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (7×) 207,253 207,254(8×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (7×)207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253 207,254 (8×) 207,253207,254 (8×) 207,253

The sequence above is a repeating pattern that keeps the predicted idealposition of the clock edge within +/−1.6 ps. It is also noted that the“7x” and “8x” indications in TABLE 4 above represent that these bitperiod values are repeated 7 times and 8 times, respectively, beforemoving on to the next bit period value in the table. This exampleillustrates that dual modulus techniques and/or other multiple idealclock period techniques can be employed to further enhance thecapability of the measurement circuitry.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram of an embodiment 500 using multiple offsettimestamps to provide increased resolution. As depicted, the digitalsignal pattern bit stream 107 is provided to a plurality of differentlogic circuitry blocks 110A, 110B . . . 110C that each are used toprovide a timestamp. For the initial timestamp, the bit stream 107 isprovided to logic circuitry 110A that receives the event occurrencesignal 123. As described above, the logic circuitry 110A operates tomodify the bit stream and to produce the modified bit stream 115A uponreceipt of a detected event as represented by the event occurrencesignal 123. The modified bit stream 115A can then be passed throughdeserializer circuitry 116A and processed, as described above, todetermine an initial timestamp having a resolution based upon the bitperiod of the bit stream 107.

To provide greater resolution than this bit period, the embodiment 500utilizes one or more additional sets of logic circuitry 110B . . . 110Cand related measurement paths to provide timestamps that are offset byfractions of the bit period from the initial timestamp generated by thefirst measurement path. The embodiment 500 achieves these offsettimestamps by delaying the event occurrence signal 123 to the additionalsets of logic circuitry 110B . . . 110C. These delays are represented bydelay circuitry 502B . . . 502C. It is also noted that rather thanintroducing delays in the path of the event occurrence signal 123,delays could instead be introduced in the path of the digital signalpattern bit stream 107 so that each logic circuitry 110A, 110B . . .110C will receive the bit stream at an offset time compared to eachother. Further, delay could be introduced later in the differentmeasurement paths before different deserializers and/or reference clocksignals utilized by the deserializers could be offset from each other.In short, a variety of techniques could be utilized to providetimestamps that are offset in time as compared to each other asdescribed herein.

Looking back to FIG. 5A, after receiving the event occurrence signal 123through first delay circuitry 502B, the logic circuitry 110B can operateas described above to modify the bit stream and to produce a first (1st)delayed modified bit stream 115B upon receipt of a detected event asrepresented by the event occurrence signal 123. The first delayedmodified bit stream 115B can then be passed through deserializercircuitry 116B and processed, as described above, to determine a first(1st) offset timestamp having a resolution based upon the bit period ofthe bit stream 107. Similarly, after receiving the event occurrencesignal 123 through the Nth delay circuitry 502C, the logic circuitry110C can operate as described above to modify the bit stream and toproduce an Nth modified bit stream 115C upon receipt of a detected eventas represented by the event occurrence signal 107. The Nth delayedmodified bit stream 115C can then be passed through deserializercircuitry 116C and processed, as described above, to determine an Nthoffset timestamp having a resolution based upon the bit period of thebit stream 107.

By selecting the number of desired additional logic circuits and thedelays associated with those logic circuits and/or measurement paths,the resolution of the event measurement can be improved. For example, iftwo sets of logic circuitry are used, the first delay circuit 502B canbe used to delay the event occurrence signal 107 to the logic circuitry110B by half the bit period for the bit stream 107. In so doing, theresulting offset timestamps obtained from the first delayed modified bitstream 115B will be offset in time by half a bit period from thetimestamps obtained from the modified bit stream 115A. Event detectionprocessing circuitry can then be used to combine the timestamps anddetermine with greater precision the timing for the occurrence of theevent. In particular, by offsetting the event occurrence signal 123 tothe second set of logic circuitry 110B by half a bit period, theresolution of the resulting combined event measurements is doubled. Thisis so because the event timestamps from the first delayed modified bitstream 115B when combined with the timestamps from the modified bitstream 115A provide twice as many potential event timing locations thatcan be determined. Similarly, if more sets of logic circuitry andmeasurement paths are used, delays can be configured so as to evenlyoffset the bit periods by the number of measurement paths being used,thereby further improving the resolution and generating finerresolutions than would be available with a single measurement path.

As stated above, the delays 502B . . . 502C can be implemented using avariety of techniques. One technique that can be used is to increase thephysical length of the wires or circuitry connecting the eventoccurrence signal 123 to the logic circuitry 110B . . . 110C as comparedto logic circuitry 110A. For example, if connections on a printedcircuit board are being used, signals often propagate on a printedcircuit board at one inch in approximately 150 picoseconds. As such, thelength of these PCB connections can be adjusted so as to delay thearrival of the event occurrence signal 123 to the logic circuitry 110B .. . 110C by the desired delayed amount as compared to the arrival timeto the logic circuitry 110A.

It is also noted that embodiment 500 could also be configured so as toprovide redundant event timing measurements. One or more of theadditional sets of logic circuitry 110B . . . 110C could be implementedto match one or more other sets of logic circuitry so that the eventoccurrence signal 123 is configured to arrive at the same time to two ormore sets of logic circuitry. For example, logic circuitry 110A and 110Bcould be configured so that they receive the event occurrence signal 123at the same time. As such, redundant timestamps can be achieved. Theseredundant measurements can be compared to determine if accuratemeasurements are being received, or they could be combined and averagedto achieve an overall average timestamp based upon multiple redundantmeasurements. Further, other uses could be made of these redundanttimestamp measurements, as desired.

It is further noted that the different time measurement branches canalso be calibrated relative to each other, if desired. For example, adigital signal pattern can be transmitted that has a long enough lengthso that the time from one instance of the pattern to the next repetitionof that pattern is longer than the round trip delay through themeasurement circuitry. The event timing detection circuitry candetermine the clock cycle and bit position of the start of the patternfor each of the time measurement paths, for example, by detecting thebeginning of (or other event within) the pattern. Having made such atime measurement for each path, any fixed differences in phase betweenthe measurement paths can be determined and subtracted from themeasurements before combining or comparing. Further, a calibration canbe done to measure the time difference between an event occurrencesignal for which precise timing is already known and when it is measuredby the system. This operation generates a static error that can bemeasured, and this static error can be subtracted from actualmeasurements to remove inherent delay associated with the deserializerand logic circuitry. This static error calibration can also be used withother embodiments described herein.

FIG. 5B is a signal diagram for offset detection of events using anembodiment according to FIG. 5A. As depicted, two measurement paths arebeing used. The first is represented by lines 522, 526 and 530. And thesecond is represented by lines 524, 528 and 532. In addition, lines 522and 524 represent digital signal patterns and are the same in theembodiment of 520. Lines 526 and 528 represent modified digital signalpatterns that have been modified based upon the occurrence of an event,as described above. Finally, lines 530 and 532 represent the result of acomparison of the digital signal pattern with the modified digitalsignal pattern using an XOR logic operation. The “0” and “1” indicatorsrepresent low and high logic levels, respectively, during a high speedbit period.

As depicted, the second measurement path signal lines 524, 528 and 532are offset by half a bit period from the first measurement path signallines 522, 526 and 530. As described with respect to FIG. 5A, thisoffset can be introduced by providing a delay in the receipt of theevent occurrence signal by the second measurement path or by introducinga delay in the receipt of the bit stream by the second measurement pathor by introducing some other comparable delay. This delay allows for thetimestamps detected by the second measurement path to be offset by halfa bit period from the timestamps detected by the first measurement path.

Detected events for embodiment 520 are assumed to cause a switch betweeninverted and non-inverted outputs, as described with respect to theembodiment of FIG. 2A above. With respect to the detection of an event,therefore, the modified digital signal pattern in line 526 switches fromnon-inverted to inverted at the bit period pointed to by element 540. Assuch, the XOR operation using line 522 and line 526 as inputs results infour 0s followed by three 1s. This indicates that the event occurred inthe fifth bit period for the first measurement path as pointed to beelement 544. Similarly, the modified digital signal pattern in line 528switches form non-inverted to inverted at the bit period pointed to byelement 542. As such, the XOR operation using line 522 and line 526 asinputs results in three 0s followed by four 1s. This indicates that theevent occurred in the fourth bit period for the second measurement pathas pointed to by element 546.

By comparing the bit periods 544 and 546 from the two measurement paths,it can be determined that the signal event occurred within the firsthalf of the fifth bit period and the last half of fourth bit period.This is so because the signal event occurred within the fifth bit periodfor the first measurement path and the fourth bit period for the secondmeasurement path. The overlap of the two bit periods, as shown bybracket 548, provides an indication of where the event occurred. Andthis indication is at twice the resolution due to the offset timemeasurements. It is also noted that it is expected that each measurementpath would detect the same number of signal events and that thedetection of these signal events could then be correlated to each otherto determine the timing of the signal events with greater resolution. Inthe embodiment of FIG. 5B, a second signal event for each measurementpath would be represented by a second inversion in the modified digitalsignal patterns 526 and 528 and a corresponding switch back to 0s in theXOR results 530 and 532.

It is also noted that calibration of the multiple measurement paths canbe conducted, if desired, by generating a large number (e.g., manythousands) of statistically uncorrelated events and counting theproportion of time each event is measured in each fractional time bin.Ideally, the proportion of events in each bin will be equal. However, ifthey are unequal, the unequal proportion information can be used, ifdesired, to resolve slight differences in the delay or offset of eachmeasurement path to compensate and remove bias that may be introduced bythe circuitry involved.

FIG. 5C is a block diagram of an embodiment 550 for detecting eventsfrom multiple event occurrence input signals using multiple measurementpaths. Embodiment 550 is similar to embodiment 500 of FIG. 5A exceptthat different event occurrence signals 123A, 123B . . . 123C are beingreceived by the different logic circuitry 110A, 110B . . . 110C and timemeasurement paths. In particular, logic circuitry 110A receives bitstream 107 and a first event occurrence signal 123A and outputs a first(1st) modified bit stream 115A that is used for a first (1st) timestamp.Logic circuitry 110B receives bit stream 107 and a second eventoccurrence signal 123B and outputs a second (2nd) modified bit stream115B that can be used for a second (2nd) timestamp. Logic circuitry 110Creceives bit stream 107 and an Nth event occurrence signal 123C andoutputs an Nth modified bit stream 115C that can be used for an Nthtimestamp. As such, embodiment 550 allows for detection and measurementof multiple signal events at the same time. It is also noted that thedifferent event occurrence signals 123A, 123B . . . 123C can be providedfrom different event detection circuitry, if desired, and the number ofevent occurrence signals and measurement paths utilized can be adjusted,as desired.

FIG. 6A is a block diagram of an embodiment 600 for providing an eventoccurrence signal 123 directly to a deserializer 116 and then providingevent timing data 122 from event timing detector circuitry 120. Asdepicted, in addition to receiving the event occurrence signal 123, thedeserializer 116 also receives a reference clock signal 118. Thedeserializer 116 then outputs M-bit parallel data at the data rate ofthe reference clock 118. In operation, therefore, the deserializer 116is essentially sampling the event occurrence signal 123 at a rate equalto M times the reference clock rate. Thus, if the reference clock 118 is156.25 MHz and M is 32, then the sampling rate of the deserializer 116would be at 5 GHz. If the reference clock 118 is 156.25 MHz and M is 64,then the sampling rate of the deserializer would be 10 GHz. Otherselections can also be made for the reference clock rate and M, asdesired. The M-bit parallel output 113 from the deserializer 118 isprovided to event timing detector circuitry 120, which in turn providesevent timing data 122 as an output. The event timing detector circuitry120 can be configured to analyze the M-bit parallel output 113 from thedeserializer 118 to determine when events occurred within the multi-bitparallel data output 113. For example, the event timing detectorcircuitry 120 can determine the location of logic level changes withinthe event occurrence signal 123 as an indication of the occurrence ofevents. In such an embodiment, these logic level changes can be used tothe trigger event pulses 212 described above. These event pulses 212 canthen be used to produce event timing data 122, such as timestamps anderror values, as also described above.

It is noted that the deserializer 116 can be implemented using one ormore FPGA (field programmable gate arrays) integrated circuits, such asthose available from Altera Corporation. For example, Stratix IV GXtransceivers available from Altera can be used to implement thedeserializer 116, if desired, and can be placed in a lock-to-referencemode of operation to disable the CDR (clock/data recovery) circuitrywithin the transceiver. Further, deserializers that do not include CDRscan also be utilized with respect to FIG. 6A, if desired.

FIG. 6B is a block diagram of an embodiment 620 for using multipledeserializers 116A, 116B, 116B and 116D and related measurement paths toprovide offset times stamps for an event occurrence signal 123. Asdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the use of multipleoffset time measurements allows for greater resolution in determiningthe timing of a signal event. As depicted in FIG. 6B, delay circuitry622, 624 and 626 are used to provide offset versions of the eventoccurrence signal to each deserializer. In particular, deserializer 116Areceives the event occurrence signal 123. Deserializer 116B receives theevent occurrence signal 123 through delay circuitry 622. Deserializer116C receives the event occurrence signal 123 through delay circuitry624. And deserializer 116D receives the event occurrence signal 123through delay circuitry 626. The deserializers 116A, 116B, 116C and 116Dalso receive the reference clock signals 118A, 118B, 118C and 118D,which can be the same or different reference clock signals, as desired.The M-bit output 113A from deserializer 116A is provided to event timingdetector circuitry 120A to produce first event timing data 122A. TheM-bit output 113B from deserializer 116B is provided to event timingdetector circuitry 120B to produce second event timing data 122B. TheM-bit output 113C from deserializer 116C is provided to event timingdetector circuitry 120C to produce third event timing data 122C. And theM-bit output 113D from deserializer 116D is provided to event timingdetector circuitry 120D to produce fourth event timing data 122D. Asdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the use of offsettiming measurements in FIG. 6B allows for greater resolution indetermining the timing of a signal event.

It is noted that as depicted four deserializers 116A, 116B, 116C and116D are used, but different numbers of deserializers and measurementpaths could be used to provide a desired number of offset timestamps, asdescribed above. As also described above, the delays provided by delaycircuitry 622, 624 and 626 in FIG. 6B could be removed in order toprovide duplicate simultaneous measurements associated with the eventoccurrence signal 123, if desired. It is further noted that thereference clock signals and the values for M used by each of thedeserializers could also be different from each other. Further, ifdesired, the offset timing measurement could also be provided byintroducing a delay in the path of the reference clock signal sent toeach deserializer. As such, each deserializer would in effect sample theincoming event occurrence signal at an offset point in time. It isfurther noted that other delay mechanisms could also be utilized, ifdesired, to generate offset timestamps to enhance the resolution of thetime measurements provided.

FIG. 6C is a block diagram of an embodiment 650 for using multipledeserializers 116A, 116B and 116C to detect events from multiple eventoccurrence input signals 123A, 123B and 123C. As described above withrespect to FIG. 5C, multiple measurement paths can be used to providetiming data associated with multiple signal events at the same time. Asdepicted in FIG. 6C, deserializer 116A receives event occurrence signal123A and reference clock signal 118A and outputs M-bit parallel data113A that is used to produce first timing data associated with the firstevent occurrence signal 123A. Deserializer 116B receives eventoccurrence signal 123B and reference clock signal 118B and outputs M-bitparallel data 113B that is used to produce second timing data associatedwith the second event occurrence signal 123B. Deserializer 116C receivesevent occurrence signal 123C and reference clock signal 118C and outputsM-bit parallel data 113C that is used to produce third timing dataassociated with the third event occurrence signal 123C. The M-bit data113A, 113B and 113C can be processed as described above, for example, toproduce timestamps and error data, if desired. It is again noted that asdepicted three deserializers 116A, 116B and 116C are used, but differentnumbers of deserializers and measurement paths could be used to providea desired number of concurrent measurements, as described above. It isalso noted that the reference clock signal 118A, 118B and 118C can bethe same or different reference clock signals, as desired. It is furthernoted that the reference clock signals and the value for M used by eachof the deserializers could be different from each other, if desired.

In addition to detecting precise timing associated with the occurrenceof events using an event occurrence signal and the techniques describedabove, it is also desirable to generate digital signals having a desiredamount of phase variation with respect to ideal or base timingassociated with those digital signals. For example, it is oftendesirable to generate clock signals with desired amounts of phasevariation in order to test the operation of systems that rely upon suchclock signals to operate.

Systems and methods for generating desired phase variation, such asjitter and/or wander, in digital signals are described below withrespect to FIGS. 7A-B and 8-12. In general, these systems and methodsrelate to techniques for generating digital signals, such as clocksignals, with precisely and accurately controlled phase variations,while also allowing broad flexibility in the type of phase variationsand digital signals that are generated.

With respect to the embodiments described here, techniques are disclosedthat utilize high speed serializer circuitry to convert multi-bitdigital signal patterns representing signals with desired phasevariation to single-bit data streams representing a signal having thedesired phase variation. The logic transitions from ones to zeroesand/or from zeroes to ones in the bit stream are controlled so as togenerate a resulting signal with desired phase variations associatedwith those transitions. Advantageously, the techniques described hereincan utilize, if desired, currently available serializer circuitry alongwith currently available digital logic circuitry and clock prescalercircuitry, to generate signals with a variety of types of phase changes(e.g., sinusoidal, arbitrary, fractional frequency offset and/or otherdesired phase changes). Advantageously, the generated signals have aprecision based upon the bit period of the high speed bit stream signalrather than a slower rate of a reference clock signal. The generatedsignals can be used, for example, as clock signals for timing associatedwith products, systems and/or devices being tested, analyzed ormeasured.

Unlike many approaches to clock synthesis and generation that seek toreduce imperfections in the resulting signal, the systems and methodsdescribed herein provide techniques to precisely and accuratelyintroduce desired phase impairments within a signal without requiringspecialized mixed signals or analog circuits. Instead, the systems andmethods described herein take advantage of serializer circuitry togenerate a bit stream representing an output signal having desired phasevariation that is based upon a multi-bit digital signal pattern.

One advantage of the techniques described herein is that they canutilize readily available digital logic components. Another advantage ofthese techniques is that they can be implemented as fully digitalsolutions, so that they do not depend upon analog techniques thatrequire considerable calibration and recalibration efforts. A furtheradvantage of these techniques are that they can utilize existing highperformance serializer/deserializer components that have been designedto achieve high performance operation. An example of aserializer/deserializer component that can be used include FPGA-basedtransceivers, such as those available from Altera Corporation. Forexample, a Stratix IV GX transceiver available from Altera can be usedto implement the serializer, if desired.

It is noted that phase variation in a digital signal is being usedherein to represent the occurrence of a signal event that is offset intime from an ideal or base time of occurrence for that signal event. Forexample, with respect to a clock signal, the ideal signal event could bethe rising and/or falling edges of the clock signal that ideally occurat precise time intervals with respect to each other. Phase variation insuch a clock signal would represent signal events that occur at timesdifferent from the ideal precise intervals. For example, the rising edgeof a clock signal could occur sooner or later than the ideal time ofoccurrence. As such, the clock signal includes phase variations ascompared to the ideal or base clock signal. Further, phase variationscan be intentionally introduced into digital signals to representdesired offsets from ideal or base signal occurrences. Intentionallygenerated phase variations in digital signals can be used for a varietyof purposes including to test a system with a clock that has risingand/or falling edges that are offset from the ideal time byplus-or-minus a certain desired percent (e.g., plus-or-minus fivepercent). In this way, a system can be tested or operated with a clocksignal having a desired amount of phase variation. And this phasevariation can be adjusted to see how the system responds. A signalhaving desired phase variation can also be used for other purposes, asdesired.

It is further again noted that phase variations are used herein to referto different locations of signal events in time as compared to ideal orbase signal event occurrences. For example, differences in edgetransitions of a digital clock signal from ideal edge transitions thatwould occur with an ideal clock are referred to herein as phasevariations. Jitter and wander are also terms that are used to representphase variations in time of the significant instants of a digital signalas compared to an ideal signal. Variations having frequency contentgreater than 10 Hz are typically considered to be jitter, and variationshaving frequency less than 10 Hz are typically considered to be wander.Jitter is generally measured in unit intervals relative to anapplication specific bit rate, while wander is generally measured inunits of time (e.g., microseconds). This use of the terms jitter andwander is consistent with the commonly accepted definition for theseterms with respect to telecommunication networks. The term phasevariation, as used herein, includes jitter and/or wander in digitalsignals as well as other phase variations that may be desired within adigital signal

Precise signal generation techniques for generating signals with desiredphase variations will now be described in further detail with respect toFIGS. 7A-B and 8-15.

While the embodiments described often assume that a clock signal isbeing generated, digital signals for other purposes can also be outputby the systems and methods described herein. For example, in addition toa clock signal, the digital signal can be a control signal, a datasignal and/or any other desired digital signal. Further, it is againnoted that term phase variation is utilized herein to refer to and covera wide variety of variations in the timing of signal events with respectto ideal signal events.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram of an embodiment 700 for precise generationof phase variations in digital signals. Waveform generator circuitry 702receives phase control signals 706 and outputs a digital pattern asmulti-bit parallel data 708, which is shown as N-bit parallel datawords. This multi-bit parallel data represents a digital signal having adesired phase variation. The multi-bit parallel data 708 is thenprovided to serializer 704. Serializer 704 converts the multi-bitparallel data 708 to single-bit data that represents a desired bitstream 712. This bit stream 712 can then be used, as desired, to providea digital signal having desired phase variation. The rate of themulti-bit parallel data 708 is slower than the rate of the single-bitdata 712. As described above, the rate of the single-bit data 712 can betwo times or more faster than the rate of the multi-bit parallel data708, if desired, and preferably at least four times or more faster thanthe multi-bit date rates.

As depicted, the serializer 704 also receives a reference clock signal710 which can be used by the serializer 704 to convert the N-bitparallel data words into single-bit data. Similar to the descriptionabove, the output rate (CLK_(HIGH) _(—) _(SPEED)) of the single-bit datacan be implemented such that it is equal to the width (N) of theparallel words times the rate (CLK_(REF)) of the reference clock signal710, such that the following equation is satisfied: CLK_(HIGH) _(—)_(SPEED)=CLK_(REF)×N. As noted above, a reference clock signal(CLK_(REF)) can be generated in a variety of ways and can include agenerated clock signal followed by dividers/multipliers that generateone or more reference clocks based upon the generated clock signal.Further, if desired, a plurality of reference clock signals can begenerated and used with dividers/multipliers to provide reference clocksignals. Further, it is noted that although not shown, the referenceclock signals generated can be provided to other circuitry described inFIGS. 7A-B and 8-15 to facilitate its operation, as desired.

FIG. 7B is a process flow diagram of an embodiment 750 for precisegeneration of phase variation in digital signals. In block 752, desiredphase variations are determined. The desired phase variations can beassociated with actual data detected or collected by a system, asdescribed below in more detail with respect to FIGS. 13-15, and/or canbe associated with data simply generated for test or other purposes. Inblock 754, the digital signal with the desired phase variations isoutput as a digital waveform pattern in the form of multi-bit paralleldata. In block 756, this waveform pattern is then serialized to form asingle-bit data stream representing a digital signal having the desiredphase variations. In block 758, the bit stream with the desired phasevariations is output. As stated above, this bit stream can then be used,as desired, to provide a digital signal having desired phase variations,such as desired jitter and/or wander. For example, the digital signalhaving desired phase variations can be used as a clock signal fortesting or analyzing devices or systems.

In operation, the signal generation techniques depicted in FIG. 7A andFIG. 7B generate a pattern of information bits that mimics a digitalsignal and transmit this digital pattern at high speed utilizing aserializer to generate a high speed bit stream. As described furtherbelow, the high speed bit stream can be divided with a prescaler tocreate one or more digital signals, such as clock signals, havingdesired rates and desired phase variations. As also described in moredetail below, the desired phase variation can be introduced into theresulting digital signal by deleting and/or inserting bits in arepeating pattern thereby moving logic transitions (e.g., rising edgetransitions, falling edge transitions) as desired within the resultingdigital signal.

One way to understand the technique described herein is to consider asimplified example. For example, consider an embodiment in which a highspeed serializer 704 operating at 1 Gbps (1 billion bits per second)transmits the eight-bit pattern “00001111” in a repetitive manner.Because this sequence of bits repeats after every eight bits, theresulting digital signal is an ideal 50% duty cycle clock signal at 125MHz, which is ⅛ of the serializer bit rate. If while repetitivelytransmitting this pattern, one instance of the pattern is modified bydeleting one of the bits, the phase of the resulting clock is advancedby an amount of time equal to one bit from the serializer 704. For the125 MHz clock signal example above, this one bit advance corresponds toone high speed bit period, which is about 1 nanosecond (i.e., 1/1 Gbpsor about 1 ns) for this example. Conversely, if one instance of thepattern is modified by inserting one duplicate bit, the phase of theresulting clock signal is delayed (or retarded) by an amount of timeequal to one bit from the serializer 704. Again, for the 125 MHz clocksignal example above, this one bit delay corresponds to one high speedbit period, which is about 1 nanosecond (i.e., 1/1 Gbps or about 1 ns)for this example. Further, it is noted that multiple bits can beinserted or deleted at a time to delay or advance the transitions in thedigital signal by larger amounts.

Consider, for example, a sequence of four such eight-bit cycles:“00001111-00001111-00001111-00001111.” (It is noted that the “-” symbolsare included to represent the separation between each 8-bit cycle.) Ifit were desired to advance a clock signal by one bit period in the thirdcycle, a “0” bit or a “1” bit could be deleted making the digitalpattern the following: “00001111-00001111-00011110-00011110” or“00001111-00001111-00001110-00011110,” where the remaining bits areshifted to the left to account for the deleted bit. And it is noted thatthe last “0” bit represents an additional bit that is shifted in tocomplete the 8-bit cycle. Similarly, if it were desired to delay a clocksignal by one bit period in the third cycle, a “0” bit or a “1” bitcould be added making the digital pattern the following:“00001111-00001111-00000111-10000111” or“00001111-00001111-10000111-10000111,” where the remaining bits areshifted to the right to account for the added bit. And it is noted thatthe fourth “1” bit in the last 8-bit cycle has been shifted out.

It is noted that the techniques described herein can be used to generateany desired waveforms, such as clock signals (e.g., high speed clocksignals), pulse signals (e.g., low speed pulses) and/or other desiredsignal types. As such, the waveform generated can be any desiredsequence of zeroes and ones, and this sequence can be repeatedperiodically, if desired. Further, any desired phase variation can beincluded within these waveforms, as desired, by inserting and/orremoving zeroes and ones within the generated waveform.

It is further noted that one example of a sequence having a relativelylong period of time before being repeated is a sequence that representsa one-pulse-per-second signal (1PPS). A 1PPS signal has one preciselycontrolled rising edge every second. The duty cycle of a 1PPS signal(e.g., how long it remains, high) is not usually important and is oftenin the range of several hundred microseconds to several tens ofmilliseconds. If desired, therefore, the waveform pattern generated bywaveform generator 708 can represent a 1PPS signal with desired phasevariation, and the bit stream output by the serializer 704 can providethis 1PPS to other circuitry and/or devices.

It is also noted that higher speed serializers may also be used, such asa serializer 704 having a 10 Gbps or higher transmit speed. In addition,larger bit patterns can also be used, such as 16-bit and 32-bitpatterns. For example, if a 16-bit pattern (e.g., 0000000011111111) wereused and repeated along with a 10 Gbps serializer output, the resultingdigital signal would be an ideal 50% duty cycle clock signal at 625 MHz,which is 1/16 of the serializer bit rate. And each bit inserted orremoved from the generated waveform would correspond to a change ofabout 100 ps in phase variation (i.e., 1/10 Gbps or about 100 ps).

As described further below, if the resulting signal is desired to be ata lower frequency, a prescaler may be employed to divide the high speedbit stream output by the serializer 704 by an integer factor such as 2,4, 8 or other value as is available and suitable to the desiredapplication. Further, it may also be desirable to clean up the phasesteps introduced by the techniques described herein. For example, aresulting clock signal can be post-processed through a cleanup PLL(phase locked loop) to provide a clean output clock signal. For example,if the bandwidth of the cleanup PLL is 1 MHz, then the phase steps canbe spread out over approximately 1 us (depending on the PLL's loopdynamics).

FIG. 8. is a more detailed block diagram of an embodiment 800 for asystem that provides precise generation of phase variation in digitalsignals. As with FIG. 7A, waveform generator circuitry 817 receives aphase control input, which can be phase steps 816, and outputs multi-bit(N-bit) waveform parallel data words 818. The serializer 704 receivesthe parallel data words 818 and outputs single-bit data in the form ofthe high speed bit stream 819. As described above, the serializer 704can also receive a reference clock signal 710 from a reference clockgenerator 802 and can use this reference clock signal 710 to produce thehigh speed clock bit stream 819 from the input parallel data words 818(e.g., CLK_(HIGH) _(—) _(SPEED)=CLK_(REF)×N). This high speed bit stream819 represents a digital signal having a desired phase variation. Thisbit stream 819 can then be provided to a prescaler 820, if desired, thatoutputs a raw signal 824. This raw signal 824 can further be sent to acleanup PLL (phase locked loop) 822, which in turn can output a cleansignal 826. This clean signal 826 can then be used, as desired. It isagain noted that a wide variety of digital signals can generated usingthe signal generation circuitry embodiment 800, including but notlimited to digital clock signals having desired phase variations.

Also depicted in the embodiment 800 is circuitry that can be used togenerate the desired waveform phase control signals, which can be in theform of phase steps 816. For the embodiment 800 depicted, phase changeintegrator and limiter circuitry 815 outputs the phase steps 816 to thehigh speed clock waveform generator 817. The phase change integrator andlimiter circuitry 815 receives three change control inputs in the formof sinusoidal phase changes 810 from a sinusoidal phase generator 804,arbitrary phase changes 812 from an arbitrary phase generator 806 andconstant phase change values 814 from a fractional frequency offsetregister 808. One or more of these control inputs can be used by thephase change integrator and limiter circuitry 815 to generate the phasecontrol signals, and other control inputs could also be used andprovided if desired.

In operation, the phase change integrator and limiter circuitry 815 addstogether phase change requests from one or more sources. For theembodiment depicted, these sources include sinusoidal phase changes 810from a configurable sinusoidal phase generator 804, arbitrary phasechanges 812 from a configurable arbitrary phase generator 806 andconstant phase change value 814 from a configurable fractional frequencyoffset register 808. The phase change integrator and limiter circuitry815 then limits the maximum phase step allowed during a given timeperiod, and can also introduce a configurable amount of phase dithering,if desired. The resulting phase steps 816 are provided to the high speedclock waveform generator 817 as phase control signals.

The high speed clock waveform generator 817 creates the patterns of onesand zeroes that mimics a clock signal or other desired digital signal.When phase step requests are provided on the phase steps signal 816, thephase of the clock waveform is advanced or delayed as described herein.When phase steps are not requested, the waveform generator 817 producesa pattern of ones and zeroes, which can be configured to represent adesired digital signal. The operation of the waveform generator 817 isfurther described in more detail with respect to FIG. 12 below.

The high speed clock waveform parallel words 818 are provided to theserializer 704. The serializer 704 receives the parallel words andconverts them to a serial bit stream to form the high speed bit stream819. The serializer 704 and other circuitry can be configured to operateunder the control of a reference clock signal 710 generated by referenceclock generator 802. In this way, the precise frequency of the resultingclock signal will be known relative to the reference clock signal 710.As also noted above, one or more reference clock signals can begenerated and used by the system.

As described above, if desired, the high speed output bit stream 819 canbe further processed with the prescaler 820 and the cleanup PLL 822. Theprescaler 820 takes the high speed bit stream 819 and divides it to alower frequency, as appropriate for the desired application. Forexample, if the high speed bit stream 819 represents a clock signal, theprescaler 820 can be used to generate lower speed clock signals to beoutput by the system. The output of the prescaler 820 is the raw signal824. If desired, a cleanup PLL 822 can also be used. The cleanup PLL 822receives the raw signal 824 and reduces the instantaneous phase steps byspreading them out across a longer time interval. For example, if thebandwidth of the cleanup PLL 822 is 1 MHz then the step response timewill be approximately 1 microsecond, depending on the dynamics of thePLL's feedback loop (e.g., for a second order feedback loop thisresponse time would be dependent upon the damping factor). It is furthernoted that the cleanup PLL 822 could be used without the prescaler 820,if desired, and the prescaler 820 could be used without the cleanup PLL822, if desired.

As described further below, it is noted that dithering techniques canalso be applied in producing phase control signals, such as phase steps816. For example, as described in more detail below, sigma deltamodulation dithering techniques can be applied by the phase changeintegrator and limiter circuitry 815 to the phase step control signalsat a rate that is faster than the PLL 822 can track, thereby allowing aphase change resolution more precise than a single bit time or periodfrom the serializer 704. The resulting dithered phase steps can then beprovided to the waveform generator 817 as dithered phase steps 816.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an embodiment for the sinusoidal phasegenerator 804. For the embodiment depicted, a numerically controlledoscillator 902 receives a sine frequency control word 910 and a startsignal 908 and outputs a sinusoidal value 914 to a differentiator 904.The differentiator 904 receives the sinusoidal value and outputs signals916 representing raw sinusoidal changes. These raw sinusoidal changes916 are then received by multiplier circuitry 906, which also receives asine amplitude control word 912. The multiplier circuitry 906 thenoutputs the sinusoidal phase changes 810 as control input signalsprovided to the phase change integrator and limiter circuitry 815.]

In operation, a configured sine frequency control word 910 is input tothe NCO 902. And the operation of the NCO 902 can be started orrestarted by providing an appropriate indication on the start signal908. It is further noted that a variety of known techniques can be usedto implement the NCO 902, as desired. The output of the NCO 902 is adigital sinusoidal value 914. A sequence of sinusoidal values representssamples from a sine function. The frequency of the sine function isgoverned by the frequency control word 910. For the embodiment depicted,the magnitude of the sine function is fixed. The sinusoidal values 914are provided to the differentiator 904, which calculates the differencebetween two consecutive samples from the NCO 902. These differencesbecome the raw sinusoidal changes 916. Because the magnitude of the sinefunction is usually fixed, it is desired to have adjustable amplitudefor the sinusoidal phase changes. The raw sinusoidal changes 916, ifdesired, can be multiplied with multiplier 906 by a configurable sineamplitude control word 912. The larger the value of the sine amplitudecontrol word 912, the greater is the amplitude of the resultingsinusoidal signal. If the value of the sine amplitude control word 912is zero, then sinusoidal phase changes are suppressed. The output of themultiplier 906 can provide the sinusoidal phase changes 810 that areused as control input signals provided to the phase change integratorand limiter circuitry 815.

It is noted that the use of the differentiator 904 provides theadvantage that amplitude and phase can be independently adjusted.Because the sine function from the NCO 902 is a function of the productof both time and frequency (e.g., f(x)=sin(f*t)), by the chain rule fordifferentiation, the derivative of the NCO 902 output with respect totime is f′(t)=f*cos(f*t). This output, therefore, is not the same aswhat the NCO 902 would produce if outputting a cosine function, namelycos(f*t). Thus, without the differentiator, changing the sine frequencycontrol word 910 to produce a cosine function would require acorresponding multiplication in the sine amplitude control word 912 tomaintain the same signal amplitude. By contrast, the implementationdepicted in FIG. 9 that includes the differentiator 904 has theadvantage that the amplitude and phase can be adjusted independently toachieve a desired level of phase changes. Furthermore, thedifferentiator 904 can be implemented using a subtractor and a wordregister, the size of which is relatively inconsequential compared tothe rest of the circuitry. As such, the use of the differentiator 904provides an advantageous and cost-effective technique.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an embodiment for the arbitrary phasegenerator 806. For the embodiment depicted, an address counter 1002receives a start signal 1008 and outputs a memory read address 1010 toarbitrary phase change memory circuitry 1004. The arbitrary phase changememory circuitry 1004 can receive and store phase change configurationinformation 1006 that represents arbitrary phase changes for the clocksignal to be output. The memory read address 1010 from address counter1002 operates to select a phase change configuration from the phasechange configuration information stored within the arbitrary phasechange memory circuitry 1004. The arbitrary phase change memory 1004then outputs the selected information as arbitrary phase changes 812that are used as control input signals provided to the phase changeintegrator and limiter circuitry 815.

In operation, the arbitrary phase generator 806 generates a sequence ofarbitrary phase change configuration values 812 that represent a desiredphase sequence. The values are configured into an arbitrary phase changememory 1004, for example, by transferring values from a pre-configuredfile and/or data stored on a computing system into the memory 1004. Whenit is desired to start creating the sequence of arbitrary phase changes,a start pulse 1008 can be provided to the address counter 1002. Theaddress counter 1002 then generates address values 1010 to the arbitraryphase change memory 1004 so that the desired phase change sequence isread from the memory and provided as arbitrary phase change values 812to the phase change integrator and limiter circuitry 815.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an embodiment for phase change integratorand limiter circuitry 815. Phase change combiner circuitry 1102 receivesthe sinusoidal phase changes 810, the arbitrary phase changes 812 andthe fractional phase changes 814 and outputs a combined phase changesignal 1116 to phase change integrator circuitry 1104. A signal 1118representing a total pending phase change is then provided to phasechange limiter circuitry 1106. The phase change limiter circuitry 1106also receives a minimum phase change interval control signal 1110 and amaximum phase step control signal 1112. The phase change limitercircuitry 1106 then outputs a phase fraction signal 1120 and a phasesteps signal 1122 to the phase dither generation circuitry 1108. Thephase steps signal 1122 is also provided back to the phase changeintegrator 1104. The phase dither generation circuitry 1108 receives thephase steps signal 1122 and the phase fraction signal 1120, as well as adither control word 1114, and outputs phase steps 816 that are used asphase control input signals to the high speed clock waveform generatorcircuitry 815.

In operation, the phase change combiner 1102 adds the desired phasechanges 810, 812 and 814 from the sinusoidal phase change generator 804,the arbitrary phase change generator 806 and the fractional frequencyoffset register 808, respectively. The first two phase change generatorshave already been described in more detail above. The fractionalfrequency offset 814 represents a value that can be introduced to createa constantly increasing or decreasing phase of the resulting signal sothat it can be offset from the nominal value by a small fraction. Ifdesired, this offset can be applied in parts-per-million or less. Thebit width of the values representing fractional phase governs thefineness of this setting. For example, a 32-bit value would providebetter than one-part-per-billion, which is sufficient for many needs.Higher precision values could also be used, if desired.

The result of the phase change combiner 1102 is the sum of the threeinput values, and this sum is output as the combined phase change value1116. The phase change integrator 1104 accumulates the combined phasechange values to compute a total pending phase change value 1118, whichis provided to the phase change limiter 1106. The phase change limiter1106 enforces limits on the allowable phase changes to ensure that theystay within the desired severity.

The maximum phase step value 1112, which is received by the phase changelimiter 1106, limits the maximum phase step allowed during a singleparallel word. The maximum phase step value 1112 can be implemented as asmall integer in the range 1 to 8, if desired. For example, with asetting of 2 for the maximum phase step value 1112, the range ofpossible phase steps includes −2, −1, 0, +1 and +2. This valuecorresponds to the maximum number of bits that may be inserted ordeleted from a single instance of the high speed clock pattern.

The minimum phase change interval value 1110, which is received by thephase change limiter 1106, limits the rate at which phase changes areallowed. For example, a minimum phase change limit of 100 would requireone hundred clock cycles to elapse between nonzero phase step values. Assuch, this minimum phase change limit can be set, as desired, todetermine the number of cycles between phase step changes. A value ofzero for the minimum phase change limit value 110 would mean that phasestep changes could occur in each clock cycle.

It is further noted that the phase change limiter 1106 can be configuredto provide different and/or additional phase change limitations, asdesired, depending upon limitations desired by the user and/or requiredby the particular environment within which the generated phase changesare being used. For example, the phase change limiter 1106 can beconfigured to implement MTIE (Maximum Time Interval Error) masks desiredby a user. Determining the MTIE for a signal is often used to checkphase changes of a signal over time to ensure that the signal does notexceed specified limits. MTIE masks often allow small phase variationsover short time intervals and larger phase variations over longer timeintervals. For example, an MTIE mask might allow a phase change of 100ns over a 1 minute interval, further relax the requirement to allow aphase change of 1 us (i.e., 10 times larger) over a 1 hour interval, andfurther relax the requirement to a phase change of 10 us over an entireday. The phase change limiter 1106 can be configured to implementdesired MTIE masks (e.g., one that is predefined according to astandard, a custom mask that a user defines, and/or some other desiredMITE mask). The phase change limiter 1106 would then ensure that phasestep changes would remain within the limits specified by the MTIE mask.The minimum phase change interval value 1110 depicted in FIG. 11 couldbe used to provide one point on an MTIE mask, and other parameters orvalues could be provided to the phase change limiter 1106, as desired,to control other MTIE mask parameters desired by the user. In short, theinput parameters to the phase change limiter 1106 could be selected andconfigured to achieve any desired phase change limitations desired for aparticular application and/or by a particular user.

The outputs of the phase change limiter 1106 are the phase steps value1122 and the phase fraction value 1120. The phase steps value 1122 isfed back to the phase change integrator 1104, where it is subtractedfrom the summation. In operation, the phase change integrator 1104 ineffect serves as a list for phase changes that are pending to be done,and when the phase change limiter 1106 allows a phase change, it issubtracted from the list.

It is noted that phase fraction is the fraction of a high speed bit timethat has built up in the phase change integrator 1104. The fractionalportion of an accumulator within the phase change integrator 1104 keepstrack of the fractional bit phase changes so that whole bit phasechanges can be introduced at correct times in the high speed serialsignal. For example, if during each reference clock cycle there are 2millionths of a bit of fractional phase added, there is a fractionalfrequency offset of 2-parts-per-million (ppm). The fractional portion ofthe accumulator within the phase change integrator 1104 keeps track ofthe fractional phase as it builds up and once a whole bit time has beenaccumulated (e.g., 500,000 clock cycles for a 2 ppm fractional offsetfor a bit time), a whole high speed bit phase change is generated andsubtracted from the phase change integrator 1104.

It is noted that the total pending phase change value 1118 also includesboth a phase steps value and a phase fraction value, which are limitedby the phase change limiter 1106, to produce the phase steps value 1122and phase fraction value 1120. It is further noted that if the phasechange limiter 1106 were removed from the system, the total pendingphase change value 1118 can be provided directly to the phase dithergeneration circuitry 1108. Further, if dithering were not desired, thephase fraction value could be removed, and the total pending phasechange value 1118 including a phase steps value, or the phase stepsvalue 1122 if phase change limiter 1106 were used, can be provided asthe phase steps 816 that are used as phase control input signals to thewaveform generator circuitry 815.

As depicted, the phase dither generation circuitry 1108 receives thephase steps value 1122 and the phase fraction value 1120 and addsdithering. Dithering can be implemented, for example, through the use ofa pseudo-random bit sequence added to the phase steps value 1122 and thephase fraction value 1120 according to a dither control word 1114. Avariety of techniques (e.g., simple PRBS (pseudo-random bit sequence) orhigher order sigma-delta modulation) may be used to shape the frequencyof the dither noise so that the fineness of the resulting phase stepsfrom the cleanup PLL 822 is less than a single high speed bit time. Thedither control word 1114 adjusts the bit position (e.g., by shifting) ofthe phase dither generation circuitry 1108 within the factional bits ofthe addition.

It is noted that at any given time, the instantaneous output phase is avalue that is a multiple of the high speed bit clock. In other words,the phase is quantized to a multiple of the high speed bit clock.However, by rapidly alternating between two adjacent phase values, andby varying the proportion of time spent at each value, it is possible toachieve finer phase resolution than a single high speed bit time. Thephase dither generation circuitry 1108 allows for this finer phaseresolution to be achieved.

Without the phase dither generation circuitry 1108, phase changes wouldonly occur when a whole high speed bit has been added to or subtractedfrom the phase change accumulator or combiner 1102, and the system wouldbe limited to generating phase steps no smaller than a high speed bittime. However, with the phase dither generation circuitry 1108, a finerresolution can be achieved. For example, if the phase fraction value1120 represents exactly half of a high speed bit time, this resolutioncan be achieved by rapidly switching between two adjacent phase values.For this one-half bit time example, the phase dither generationcircuitry 1108 can be configured to generate phase steps that alternaterapidly and equally between two phase values representing two adjacenthigh speed bit times. As long as the bandwidth of the cleanup PLL 822 islower than the rate of alternation from the phase dither generator 1108,the cleanup PLL is unable to track the phase alternations and producesan output that is the average of the two input phases. As such, theresulting signal has a phase resolution that is finer than the singlehigh speed bit time.

One implementation for the phase dither generation circuitry 1108 is touse a pseudo random number generator (PRNG) (e.g., with a linearfeedback shift register) with a relatively large number of bits (e.g.,24 bits) and add a sign extended portion of the bits from the PRNG to aportion of the bits from the phase step value 1122 and phase fractionvalue 1120. The dither control word 1114 can be used to control how manybits from the PRNG are added to the phase step and phase fraction valuesto form the dithered phase steps 816. If the dither control word 1114 iszero, no bits from the PRNG are added to the phase steps and phasefraction and no dither is introduced. If the dither control word 1114 isone (1), then one bit from the PRNG is sign extended and represents plusor minus half of a high speed bit time that is added to the phasefraction. For the one-half bit time example described in the previousparagraph, the phase alternates equally between two phase values, butthe pattern of alternation is not periodic because it is controlled by aPRNG and therefore the spectral content of the “dither” is spread acrossa wide range of frequencies making it easy to filter in the cleanup PLL822.

It is further noted that dithering techniques could also be used thatare similar to techniques used for digital to analog conversion in audioand other similar systems. In such systems, digital to analog converterscan generate a limited set of output values; however, by rapidlyalternating between adjacent values, and by varying the proportion oftime spent at each value, much higher resolution can be achieved in thedigital to analog conversion. Similar techniques can be employed in thephase dither generation circuitry 1108, if desired, to achieve finerphase resolution.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an embodiment for waveform generatorcircuitry 817. For the embodiment depicted, an adder 1202 receives phasesteps 816, which can be dithered as described above, as well as a wordsize value 1208 and an indication of the current phase 1228. The adder1202 combines these values and outputs a signal 1224 representing a rawversion of the next phase value. Wrap logic 1204 receives the raw nextphase value 1224 and a maximum waveform memory address 1222 and outputsthe next phase value 1226 to the current phase register 1206. Thecurrent phase register 1206 then stores the next phase value 1226 andoutputs the previously stored value as the current phase value 1228. Afirst portion of the current phase value 1228 is then provided to thewaveform memory circuitry 1210 as a word address 1230, and a secondportion of the current phase value 1228 is provided to a first matchingdelay circuit (DELAY 1) 1216 as the first bit 1232 in the word to beoutput. The waveform memory circuitry 1210 also receives an ideal orbase clock waveform 1220 and outputs a raw waveform word 1234 to shifter1212 based upon the stored ideal clock waveform 1220. Shifter 1212 alsoreceives the output of the first matching delay circuit (DELAY 1) 1216,which determines the first bit 1232 within the raw waveform word 1234 tobe output within the shifted waveform word 1236, and the shifter 1212then shifts the raw waveform word 1234 and outputs a shifted waveformword 1236 to bit splicer 1214. Bit splicer 1214 also receives the phasesteps value 816 passed through a second matching delay circuit (DELAY 2)1218, which is configured to match the delay of intervening circuitrybetween the bit splicer 1214 and the original phase steps value 816input to the waveform generator circuitry 817. Bit splicer 1214 thenoutputs the multi-bit (N-bit) parallel data words in the form of thehigh speed clock waveform parallel bits 818. It is noted that the bitsplicer 1214 can be configured to use the reference clock signal 710 tooutput the waveform parallel bits (N-bit) 818 at the rate of thereference clock signal 710, if desired.

In operation, the phase steps value 816 from the phase change integratorand limiter circuitry 815 are input to a binary adder 1202. The otherinputs to the binary adder 1202 are the current phase value 1228 and aconstant representing the nominal word size 1208. The result of thisaddition is the raw next phase value 1224, which is provided to the wraplogic circuitry 1204. The wrap logic circuitry 1204 also receives themaximum waveform memory address 1222 and ensures that the next phasevalue 1226 remains within the range of addresses that hold theconfigured ideal or base clock waveform 1220 in the waveform memory1210. The current phase register 1206 receives the next phase value 1226and stores it, and the previously stored next phase value then becomesthe current phase value 1228. The current phase value 1228 is fed backto the adder 1202, and it is also split into two bit fields with anupper bit field 1230 being provided to waveform memory 1210 and a lowerbit field 1232 being provided to matching delay circuitry (DELAY 1)1216. The upper bit field 1230 identifies a word address and is providedto the read address port on the waveform memory 1210. The lower bitfield 1232 determines the first bit to be output within the waveformword identified by the word address and is provided to the shifter 1212through the first matching delay circuitry (DELAY 1) 1216. It is furthernoted that the first matching delay circuitry (DELAY 1) 1216 isconfigured to introduce delay equal to the delay of the waveform memory1210.

The waveform memory 1210 holds the ideal or base clock waveform patternand can be configured, as desired. For example, the waveform memory 1210can be configured by storing waveform information provided as a patternof ones and zeroes provided as the ideal clock waveform 1220. The sizeof the waveform memory 1210 can be configured, if desired, using theleast common multiple (LCM) of the ideal or base clock waveform pattern(in bits) and the parallel word size for the serializer 704 divided bythe parallel word size. For example, if the serializer 704 width is 16bits and the ideal or base clock pattern has length of 12 bits (e.g.,“000000111111”) then the number of words provided in the waveform memory1210 can be set to three, which can be calculated as LCM(12,16)/16=48/16=3.

Furthermore, if desired, the memory 1210 can be organized to facilitatethe generation of digital signals with desired phase variation by makingthe words more than twice as wide as the parallel words provided to theserializer 704. For example, the width of the words can be implementedas twice the parallel word width for the serializer 704 plus one lessthan the maximum phase step change (in bits) allowed in a single word.As such, if the parallel word width is 16, and the maximum phase step istwo bits, then the word width can be set to 33 bits (e.g.,(2×16)+(2−1)=33).

The use of waveform word widths for the memory 1210 that are wider thanthe parallel waveform words (N-bit) 818 provided to the serializer 704allows for more flexibility in the system. As described herein, tochange the phase of the output clock signal, a whole bit is insertedinto or removed from the “ideal” or base clock signal that isrepresented by the high speed bit stream output by the serializer 704.Because of this insertion and removal of bits within an N-bit clocksignal, for example, it is useful to generate more than N-bits duringone reference clock cycle in the raw waveform word 1234. For theembodiment shown in FIG. 12, when the phase change requires inserting abit into the “ideal” clock signal, this insertion is accomplished byinserting a duplicated bit and then by adjusting the shifter 1212position to an earlier position. This adjustment to shifter 1212 is doneso that when a bit is repeated, not all of the bits are used. As such,shifter 1212 is adjusted to start the next cycle at the bit in thewaveform that was not used during the previous cycle. In other words,during the reference clock cycle where a bit is inserted, only N−1 bitsof the raw waveform word 1234 are used, and to achieve continuity, thenext word is then started from the Nth bit in the waveform that was notused during the previous cycle. When the phase change requires deletinga bit from the “ideal” clock signal, this removal is accomplished bydeleting a bit from the raw waveform word 1234. However, this mean thatN+1 bits of the raw waveform word 1234 are used during a reference clockcycle. As such, during the next reference clock cycle, shifter 1212 isadjusted to start the next cycle after the last bit for the ideal clockwaveform that was transmitted.

The example above utilizes stored waveform words that are wider thantwice the serializer input word, although different word widths couldalso be used, if desired. Assuming the waveform memory 1210 is at leasttwice as wide as the serializer input word, the shifter 1212 willessentially have available at its input all of the “ideal” clockwaveform bits for two consecutive reference clock cycles. Theseadditional waveform bits allow the shifter 1212 significant freedom ininserting bits into and removing bits from the waveform.

Where it is desired to allow phase changes of more than one bit at atime per clock cycle, more than one bit will be repeated in or deletedfrom the “ideal” clock waveform in the clock cycle. In this case, forthe embodiment depicted in FIG. 12, the shifter 1212 is used to performthe first bit shift, and bit splicer 1214 is used to perform theremaining bit shifts. For example, if phase changes equal to two highspeed bit times are allowed within a single reference clock period, thenthe bit splicer 1214 is used to repeat or delete an additional bit inthe center of the shifted waveform word whenever a phase change of +2 or−2 is required (e.g., one bit is accomplished by changing the shiftersettings, and another bit is accomplished in the bit splicer).

Further, if larger phase changes are desired at a time per clock cycle,then additional width in the waveform word is desirable. As indicatedabove, the width of the words can be implemented as twice the parallelword width for the serializer 704 plus one less than the maximum phasestep change (in bits) allowed in a single word. As such, if the parallelword width is 16 bits, and the maximum phase step is two bits, then theword width can be set to 33 bits (e.g., (2×16)+(2−1)=33). In anotherexample embodiment, the parallel word width can be 64 bits, and themaximum phase steps can be 17 bits. The raw waveform word then becomes128 bits plus 16 extra bits for a total of 144 bits (e.g.,(2×64)+(17−1)=144) to allow for up to 17 bits to be inserted or deleted.Other configurations and word widths could also be used, as desired,depending upon the signals and phase variations desired to be generated.

Considering further the example above having a base signal patternlength of 12 bits with a parallel word width of 16 bits output by theserializer 704, and with the ability to introduce phase steps of at mosttwo bits, the contents of the waveform memory 1210 can be implemented asfollows:

-   -   Address 0: 0000.0011.1111.0000-0011.1111.0000.0011.1    -   Address 1: 0011.1111.0000.0011-1111.0000.0011.1111.0    -   Address 2: 1111.0000.0011.1111-0000.0011.1111.0000.0        This base pattern would typically be computed ahead of time and        written into the waveform memory 1210 as part of system        configuration as the ideal clock waveform 1220. It is noted that        the above example assumes that the first bits to be transmitted        are located on the left of the bit sequence. It is further noted        that the additional bit at the right end of the 33 bits stored        for each memory address represents an added bit, and is the next        bit in the base signal pattern.

The word address 1230 operates to select a word from the availablememory addresses (e.g., three addresses in the example above) within thewaveform memory 1210 to output as the raw waveform word 1234. Theshifter 1212 receives the raw waveform word 1234 and the delayed versionof the first bit value 1232, which determines the first bit in the wordto be output. The shifter 1212 then left shifts the raw waveform word1234 by the amount specified by the first bit value 1232 so that thenext bit is the first bit to be output. Continuing the above example,therefore, if the current phase value 1228 were 0x13 (i.e., hex 1 forthe first portion (0001) and hex 3 for the second portion (0011)), theword address value 1230 would be 1, and the first bit value 1232 wouldbe determined by a 3-bit shift. The shifter 1212, therefore, wouldreceive the word from Address 1 and shift it by three bits to the left(e.g., advancing by 3 bits), leading to the following values includingthe shifted waveform word 1236:

Current phase value 1228: 0x13

Word address value 1230: 1

First bit in word value 1232: 3

Raw waveform word 1234: 0011.1111.0000.0011-1111.0000.0011.1111.0

Shifted waveform word 1236: 1111.1000.0001.1111-1000.0001.1111.1000.0

Waveform parallel bits 818: 1111.1000.0001.1111

It is noted that when the raw waveform word is shifted over to the leftby three bits, additional “0” values have been added at the right of theshifted waveform word 1236. Further, assuming the output width (N-bit)is 16 bits, only the first 16 bits of the shifted waveform word 1236 areused and output by the bit splicer 1214 as the waveform parallel bits818.

As described above, the bit splicer 1214 can be used to implement theinsertion or deletion of additional bits when there is more than one bitto insert or delete. If the maximum phase step value is one, then thebit splicer 1214 is not used, because the action of the current phaseregister 1206 and the shifter 1212 accomplishes insertion and deletionof one bit. However, if the maximum phase step value is greater thenone, then it can be desirable to spread out the phase change so that itoccurs more evenly in time. This spreading operation is the function ofthe bit splicer 1214. If a phase advance by two bits is required, thenthe bit splicer 1214 removes a bit from the middle of the shiftedwaveform word 1236. Conversely, if a phase delay by two bits isrequired, then the bit splicer 1214 duplicates one of the bits in themiddle of the shifted waveform word 1214. It is also noted that the bitsplicer circuitry 1214 utilizes the phase steps value 816 receivedthrough the matching delay circuitry (DELAY 2) 1218 to determine themagnitude of the phase change desired.

Continuing the example above, therefore, if it is desired to advance theclock phase by two bits during the next clock cycle, then the bitsplicer 1214 takes the shifted waveform word 1236 above (includingshifted bits) and produces clock waveform parallel bits 818 having a bitremoved in the current reference clock cycle, for example, as follows:

Current phase value 1228: 0x13

Word address value 1230: 1

First bit in word value 1232: 3

Raw waveform word 1234: 0011.1111.0000.0011-1111.0000.0011.1111.0

Shifted waveform word 1236: 1111.1000.0001.1111-1000.0001.1111.1000.0

Phase step changes 816: +2

Waveform parallel word 818: 1111.1000.0011.1111

It is noted that instead of six consecutive zeroes in the middle of thewaveform parallel word 818, in this case there are only five consecutivezeroes in the waveform parallel word 818. It is further noted that forgreater values of phase steps, a similar approach can be followed, withthe goal of spreading the phase changes as evenly as possible across theshifted waveform word 1236. Again, assuming the output width (N-bit) is16 bits, only the first 16 bits of the shifted waveform word 1236 areused and output by the bit splicer 1214 as the waveform parallel bits818.

Still using the above example, the following TABLE 5 provides an exampleseries of waveform parallel words 818 output by the waveform generatorcircuitry 817 based upon two phase step changes indicated below. For theexample shown in TABLE 5, the phase is changed by +1 (i.e., advanced byone high speed bit period) in the third reference clock cycle, and thephase is changed by −2 (i.e., delayed by two high speed bit periods) inthe sixth reference clock cycle. It is also noted that for the shiftedwaveform words 1236 in TABLE 5, “x” values have been included to bettershow the shifting of bits. The “x” values could actually be inserted tomatch 33^(rd) bit for the word stored at each address, as indicatedabove, or could be set to a one or a zero as desired.

TABLE 5 Example Waveform Word Management Ref Clock Phase Step WordAddress First Bit Raw Waveform Shifted Waveform Parallel Cycle 818 12301232 Word 1234 Word 1236 Word 818 1 0 0 0 0000.0011.1111.0000-0000.0011.1111.0000- 0000.0011.1111.0000 0011.1111.0000.0011.10011.1111.0000.0011.1 2 0 1 0 0011.1111.0000.0011- 0011.1111.0000.0011-0011.1111.0000.0011 1111.0000.0011.1111.0 1111.0000.0011.1111.0 3 +1 2 11111.0000.0011.1111- 1110.0000.0111.1110- 1110.0000.0111.11100000.0011.1111.0000.0 0000.0111.1110.0000.x (1-bit advance) 4 0 0 10000.0011.1111.0000- 0000.0111.1110.0000- 0000.0111.1110.00000011.1111.0000.0011.1 0111.1110.0000.0111.x 5 0 1 1 0011.1111.0000.0011-0111.1110.0000.0111- 0111.1110.0000.0111 1111.0000.0011.1111.01110.0000.0111.1110.x 6 −2 2 0 1111.0000.0011.1111- 1111.0000.0011.1111-1111.0000.0001.1111 0000.0011.1111.0000.0 0000.0011.1111.0000.0 (2-bitdelay) 7 0 2 F 1111.0000.0011.1111- 1000.0001.1111.1000-1000.0001.1111.1000 0000.0011.1111.0000.0 00xx.xxxx.xxxx.xxxx.x

Looking to TABLE 5 for the +1 phase change delay in the third referenceclock cycle, the raw waveform word is shifted left by 1-bit so that thefirst bit output is the second bit in the stored waveform word forAddress 2. As seen in the parallel word 818 for the third referenceclock cycle, only 3 ones are included at the beginning of the word. Whencombined with the prior parallel word 818, this leads to only 5 onesbeing sent before zeroes are again started. As such, the waveform hasbeen advanced by one high speed bit period. The same 1-bit shift is alsoused for the fourth and fifth reference clock cycles to keep the outputbits aligned with alternating 6 zeroes and 6 ones.

Looking to TABLE 5 for the −2 phase change delay in the sixth referenceclock cycle, the raw waveform word is shifted by 0-bits so that thefirst bit output is the first bit in the stored waveform word forAddress 2. As seen in the parallel word 818 for the sixth referenceclock cycle, 4 ones are included before zeroes start again. Whencombined with the prior parallel word 818, this leads to 7 ones beingsent, thereby delaying the waveform by one high speed bit period.Further, as described above, because the delay change is 2 bits, the bitsplicer 1212 will handle the additional phase change and will insert abit within the middle of the parallel word 818. As such, in addition toan added one at the beginning of the word, the parallel word 818 outputin the sixth reference cycle also includes in its middle an added zeroto generate a series of 7 zeroes. The waveform, therefore, is delayed byan additional one high speed bit period for a total delay of two bitperiods. Because the total phase change in the sixth reference clockcycle is negative two bits and the previous first bit value 1232 was onefor the fifth reference clock cycle, the value of first bit 1232 in theseventh row of the table is calculated as 1 plus −2 modulo 16 (as16-bits is the nominal serializer input word width for this example).This calculation gives 15, which in hexadecimal (hex) is represented asF. This calculation also propagates a borrow into the calculation of theword address 1230 for the seventh reference cycle so that it remains thesame. Ordinarily the value of the word address 1230 would incrementmodulo the number of words in the memory based upon the operation of theadder 1202 and word wrap circuitry 1204, so that the word address value1230 would increment on each clock cycle. However, the borrow causes theword address value 1230 to remain the same for one clock cycle. Thiscombination of adjustments keeps the output bits aligned for thisexample.

It is noted that the example provided in TABLE 5, as well as the otherexamples described herein, is intended only an example. Many othervariations and combinations of base waveform patterns, parallel wordsizes, memory word sizes, phase changes, memory management, waveformword management and/or other parameters could be used, as desired,depending upon the operational features and output signal types desiredto be generated, while still taking advantage of the insertion andremoval of bits within a waveform pattern to achieve desired phasevariation in the resulting digital signals.

The precise generation of digital signals with desired phase variations,as described herein with respect to FIGS. 7A-7B and 8-12, can also bebased upon timing data generated through the precise detection of timingdata associated with event occurrences, as described above with respectto FIGS. 1A-C, 2A-B, 3-4, 5A-C and 6A-C. Further, the signal generationcircuitry and the event detection circuitry can be implemented indifferent devices, if desired, or can be implemented in the same device,if desired. Example embodiments for the combined use of precise signalgeneration circuitry and precise event detection circuitry, as describedherein, are now further described with respect to FIGS. 13-15.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an embodiment 1300 for playback of signalsbased upon event timing data detected from actual event occurrences. Forthe embodiment depicted, event detection circuitry 1304 (e.g., asdescribed herein with respect to FIGS. 1A-C, 2A-B, 3-4, 5A-C and 6A-C)receives event occurrence signals 1302 and generates event timing data1306. This event timing data 1306 can be provided to and stored within adata storage system 1308 as event data 1320 in any desired format. Theevent data can then be transferred to a data storage system 1312 andagain stored as event data 1322 in any desired format. This event data1322 can then be used to provide phase data 1314 to signal generationcircuitry 1316 (e.g., as described herein with respect to FIGS. 7A-7Band 8-12) that can then be used provide the phase control inputs thatdetermine the desired phase variation in a resulting digital signal. Thesignal generation circuitry 1316 can then output digital signals withphase variations, such as jitter and/or wander, that relate to thedetected event timing data. As such, these digital signals output by thesignal generation circuitry 1316 can represent a playback of detectedsignal events, thereby providing the event occurrence playback signals1318.

It is noted that the embodiment 1300 can be used, for example, toprecisely detect event timing data associated with signal errorsoccurring in systems being tested, analyzed or measured. The signalerrors can then be represented in the stored event data 1320 and thenprovided for use by the signal generation circuitry 1316 to replay orplayback the error signals. This playback may be useful, for example,when detecting errors in field equipment so that these errors can berecorded and played back in a laboratory or test facility. In this way,field errors and events can be precisely reproduced on test equipment,thereby facilitating the troubleshooting of errors in the installedequipment. Further, the detection of errors or detected events andplayback of these errors or detected events could also occur at the samelocation, for example, where systems are being tested.

It is also noted that the data transfer 1310 can be implemented usingany of a wide variety of techniques, including wired and/or wirelesscommunications between one or more computing systems or devices. In oneimplementation, the event detection circuitry 1304 and the data storagesystem 1308 could be located within a first device, and the signalgeneration circuitry 1316 and the data storage system 1312 could belocated within another device. These two devices could then beconfigured to communicate through wired and/or wireless communications,for example, through network connections so as to provide the datatransfer 1310. In a further implementation, the event detectioncircuitry 1304 and the signal generation circuitry 1316 could be locatedin a single device. In this further implementation, a single datastorage system could be used, if desired, thereby combining the datastorage system 1308 and the data storage system 1312 into a single datastorage system. It is further noted that the data storage systems can beany desired tangible medium configured to store data, such as memorystorage devices, FLASH memory, random access memory, read only memory,programmable memory devices, reprogrammable storage devices, harddrives, floppy disks, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and/or any other tangible storagemedium.

The embodiment 1300 could also be utilized in a wide variety ofenvironments depending upon the desired signal events to be detected andplayed back. One such environment is in a network equipment testingenvironment where network communications, such as network basedtelephony and/or data communications, are being tested.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an embodiment 1400 for an error playbacksystem that detects event occurrences and generates signals in a networkcommunications environment. For the embodiment depicted, one or morenetwork connections 1402 are made to the network port interfacecircuitry 1404. These network port connections can provide networkrelated communication signals, such as network packets. One or more ofthe network communication signals can be provided to the event detectioncircuitry 1408 through connections 1406. The event detection circuitry1408 can operate to generate event timing data associated with thesenetwork communications. This event timing data can be communicated todata storage system 1412 through connections 1410 and can be storedwithin a data storage system 1412 as event data 1414 in a desiredformat. This event data 1414 can then be provided through connections1418 to signal generation circuitry 1420. And signal generationcircuitry 1420 can use this event data to provide playback of detectedsignal events to network connected devices through connections 1422 tothe network port interface 1404. In addition, the signal generationcircuitry 1420 can also use other phase change data 1416 that can beused to define other desired phase variations in digital signals thatcan be provided through connections 1422 to network devices connected tothe network port interface 1404.

The event detection circuitry 1408 can be configured, if desired, todetect the arrival of network packets and/or the departure of networkpackets. The event detection circuitry 1408 can also be configured todetect other network related events, as desired. Timing errorinformation concerning these network related events can be determinedand stored as event data 1414. This error information can then be usedby the signal generation circuitry 1420 to generate digital signals withdesired phase variation such that the timing errors can be recreated andplayed back by signal generation circuitry 1420. This playback featureprovides the advantageous ability to detect and recreate actual signalerrors detected within the network communications connected to the errorplayback system 1400.

Control circuitry 1424 can be provided that communicates with thenetwork port interface 1404, the event detection circuitry 1408, thedata storage system 1412 and/or the signal generation circuitry 1420 soas to control the operations of the embodiment 1400. Further, a separatecontrol interface 1426 can be provided, if desired, through whichcontrol data 1428 can be communicated to and from the embodiment 1400,such as between external devices or systems and the embodiment 1400 whenimplemented as a single device. For example, desired phase data 1416and/or event data 1414 can be communicated as control data 1428 andstored within embodiment 1400. Other desired operational parameters, asdescribed herein, for the event detection circuitry 1408, the signalgeneration circuitry 1420 and/or other operation blocks described hereincan also be communicated as control data 1428. Further, if desired,control data can also be communicated through the network port interface1404. The control interface 1426 could also be removed if all controldata were desired to be communicated through the network port interface1404. Further, the control interface 1426 could be implemented in partor in whole as a user interface, such as a graphical user interface,through which a user can select, enter and/or define desiredconfigurations to provide control data for the embodiment 1400. A userinterface, such as a graphical user interface, could also be providedthrough the network port interface 1404, if desired. Other variationscould also be implemented as desired.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an embodiment 1500 that includes a phasechange processor 1504 to process the event timing data 1502, as desired,prior to its being used to provide phase data 1506 to control thegeneration of signals with desired phase variation. The embodiment 1500can be used in combination with the embodiments of FIGS. 13 and 14 toprovide desired processing of the event data prior to its being used tocontrol generation of digital signals. Further, as shown in FIG. 14,control circuitry and a control interface can also be used to controland configure parameters for the operation of the phase change processor1504. In addition to the examples described below, other processingvariations could also be provided for the phase change processor 1504,as desired, to process the event timing data 1502 prior to its beingpassed on as phase data 1506 for generation of digital signals.

As described herein, the timing or phase of a clock or other signal canbe detected and measured with high precision, and a signal witharbitrary phase can be generated with high precision, as desired. Asshown in FIG. 15, event timing data 1502 generated by event detectioncircuitry (e.g., event detection circuitry 1304 and 1408) can beprovided to signal generation circuitry (e.g., signal generationcircuitry 1316 and 1420) through a phase change processor 1504. Thephase change processor 1504 can be configured to process the eventtiming data 1502, as desired, prior to its being used to control phasegeneration. For the example embodiment depicted, the phase changeprocessor 1504 includes digital signal processing blocks 1512, 1514,1516 and 1518. The filters block (FILTERS) 1512 can be used to provideone or more filters that are applied to the event timing data 1502. Theformat block (FORMAT) 1516 can be used to change the format of the eventtiming data 1502 from one data type or protocol to any other desire datatype or protocol, depending upon the application desired. Theamplifier/attenuator (AMP/ATT) block 1514 can be used to increase ordecrease the phase changes represented by the event timing data 1502, asdesired. And the final block (OTHER) 1518 represents that otherprocessing blocks could be included in the phase change processor 1504,as desired, depending upon the digital signal processing desired for theevent timing data 1502.

For example, with respect to the amplifier/attenuator (AMP/ATT) block1514, the phase change processor 1504 can be configured to multiply ordivide the measured phase changes represented by the event timing data1502 by a constant or variable value to amplify or attenuate the phaseimperfections on the input. Because this amplification/attenuationtechnique can be implemented as a feed-forward scheme (e.g., there canbe no feedback), stability of the system is not a concern. Thisfeed-forward scheme, therefore, provides an important advantage overusing a PLL or other type of implementation that utilizes feedback.Because there is no feedback required for this amplification/attenuationtechnique, the resulting circuitry is guaranteed to be stable. For thisexample, it is further noted that if the multiplier and/or dividervalues were set to unity, the measured phase changes would be passeddirectly to the signal generation circuitry without modification.

With respect to the filters (FILTERS) block 1512, the phase changeprocessor 1504 can be configured to employ more sophisticated DSP(digital signal processing) filtering techniques (e.g., digitalfiltering). For example, digital filtering techniques can be applied toamplify or attenuate certain jitter/wander frequencies or ranges ofjitter/wander frequencies for applications where such filtering isuseful. For example, if the phase change processor 1504 implemented alow pass filter with a 10 Hz cutoff, then only wander components wouldbe passed to the signal generation circuitry. In other words, even ifthe phase change values from the event detection circuitry containedboth high and low frequency components, the phase change processor 1504would filter out the high frequency (jitter) components greater than 10Hz and leave just the wander components. This filtering would be useful,for example, in laboratory situations where emulation of controlledwander transfer is desirable, or where it is desired to pre-condition atest signal to eliminate certain frequency bands of jitter and wanderbut to retain others. Still further, the opposite could also be done,where the jitter components would be passed to the output, and thewander components would blocked. This filtering could use, for example,a high pass filter with a 10 Hz cutoff, thereby filtering out the lowfrequency (wander) components lower than 10 Hz and leaving just thejitter components. This additional implementation that passes onlyjitter components could be used to mimic the behavior of an ideal PLL or“golden” PLL for testing purposes. It is further noted that bandpassfiltering could be provided to pass error components within certaindesired frequency ranges, and notch filtering could also be provided toblock error components with certain desired frequency ranges, ifdesired. Other variations could also be implemented, as desired.

In addition, it should be noted that the output signal from the phasechange processor 1504 may be different from the signal detected andrepresented by the event timing data 1502. For example, the signal type,format and/or frequency, as well as other parameters, for the phase data1506 output from the phase change processor 1504 can be different fromthe signal type, format and/or frequency, as well as other parameters,for the signal events detected and represented by the event timing data1502. Further, the phase data 1506 can include additional and/ordifferent information as compared to the input event timing data 1502.For example, wander measured from a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET)signal and represented by the event timing data 1502 can be transferredto an Ethernet signal so that the phase data 1506 represents desiredphase changes in an Ethernet signal. Other variations could also beimplemented, as desired.

Further modifications and alternative embodiments of this invention willbe apparent to those skilled in the art in view of this description. Itwill be recognized, therefore, that the present invention is not limitedby these example arrangements. Accordingly, this description is to beconstrued as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching thoseskilled in the art the manner of carrying out the invention. It is to beunderstood that the forms of the invention herein shown and describedare to be taken as the presently preferred embodiments. Various changesmay be made in the implementations and architectures. For example,equivalent elements may be substituted for those illustrated anddescribed herein, and certain features of the invention may be utilizedindependently of the use of other features, all as would be apparent toone skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description ofthe invention.

1. A system for event timing measurement, comprising: an eventoccurrence input signal; reference clock generator circuitry having areference clock signal as an output, deserializer circuitry coupled tothe reference clock signal and having the event occurrence signal as aninput, the deserializer circuitry being configured to output multi-bitparallel data representative of the event occurrence signal at an outputrate based upon a rate of the reference clock signal, the deserializercircuitry being further configured to sample the event occurrence signalat a rate faster than the output rate of the multi-bit parallel data;and event timing detector circuitry coupled to receive the multi-bitparallel data and configured to determine when an event occurred withinthe multi-bit parallel data and to output event timing datarepresentative of when the event occurred within the multi-bit paralleldata.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising event detectioncircuitry having the event occurrence signal as an output, the eventoccurrence signal representing at least in part a detection of one ormore events.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the event detectioncircuitry comprises event conditioning circuitry configured to receive asignal associated with the detected event and to output the eventoccurrence signal in a form usable by the deserializer circuitry.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the deserializer circuitry is configured tosample the event occurrence signal at a rate equal to the rate of thereference clock signal times a number of bits used for the multi-bitparallel data.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the event timing datacomprises one or more timestamps.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein theevent timing data comprises one or more time error values.
 7. The systemof claim 1, wherein the deserializer circuitry and the event detectorcircuitry comprise a first measurement path, and further comprising oneor more additional measurement paths coupled to receive the eventoccurrence signal, wherein each additional measurement path alsoincludes deserializer circuitry and event timing detector circuitry. 8.The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more additional measurementpaths are configured to provide one or more time measurements that areoffset in time from the a time measurement provided by the firstmeasurement path, and wherein the time measurement and the one or moreoffset time measurements are utilized to provide event timing datahaving a finer resolution than the sample rate of the deserializercircuitry.
 9. The system of claim 8, further comprising delay circuitrycoupled to the event occurrence signal to provide the offset timemeasurements.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the deserializercircuitry and the event detector circuitry comprise a first measurementpath, and further comprising one or more additional measurement paths,wherein each additional measurement path also includes deserializercircuitry and event timing detector circuitry and wherein eachadditional measurement path is configured to receive a different eventoccurrence signal.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the eventoccurrence signal comprises a digital clock signal.
 12. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the event occurrence signal comprises an analog signal.13. The system of claim 1, wherein the event occurrence signal isassociated with at least one of an arrival of network packets and adeparture of network packets.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein theevent timing detector circuitry further comprises timestamp circuitryconfigured to provide an event timestamp.
 15. The system of claim 14,wherein the event timestamp includes a counter portion and a bit periodportion, the counter portion being based upon a time counter and the bitperiod portion being based upon the multi-bit parallel data.
 16. Theysystem of claim 14, further comprising time error circuitry configuredto output time error data representing a difference between an eventtimestamp and an expected event timestamp.
 17. A method for event timingmeasurement, comprising: receiving an event occurrence input signal;generating a reference clock signal; using deserializer circuitrycoupled to the reference clock signal to output multi-bit parallel datarepresentative of the event occurrence signal at an output rate basedupon a rate of the reference clock signal, the deserializer circuitrysampling the event occurrence signal at a rate faster than the outputrate of the multi-bit parallel data; determining when an event occurredwithin the multi-bit parallel data; and generating event timing datarepresentative of when the event occurred within the multi-bit paralleldata.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising detecting one ormore events and generating the event occurrence signal to represent thedetected events.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the using stepcomprises using the deserializer circuitry to sample the eventoccurrence signal at a rate equal to the rate of the reference clocksignal times a number of bits used for the multi-bit parallel data. 20.The method of claim 17, wherein the event timing data comprises one ormore timestamps.
 21. The method of claim 17, wherein the event timingdata comprises one or more time error values.
 22. The method of claim17, further comprising duplicating the using and generating steps toprovide one or more additional time measurements associated with theevent occurrence signal.
 23. The method of claim 22, further comprisingusing the one or more additional time measurements to provide two ormore offset time measurements that are offset in time from each other.24. The method of claim 23, further comprising using the offset timemeasurements to generate event timing data having a finer resolutionthan a resolution from a single time measurement.
 25. The method ofclaim 17, further comprising duplicating the using and generating stepsto provide one or more additional time measurements associated with oneor more different event occurrence signals
 26. The method of claim 17,wherein the event occurrence signal comprises a digital clock signal.27. The method of claim 17, wherein the event occurrence signalcomprises an analog signal.
 28. The method of claim 17, wherein theevent occurrence signal is associated with at least one of an arrival ofnetwork packets and a departure of network packets.
 29. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the generating step comprises generating an eventtimestamp.
 30. The system of claim 29, wherein the event-timestampincludes a counter portion and a bit period portion, the counter portionbeing based upon a time counter and the bit period portion being basedupon the multi-bit parallel data.
 31. The method of claim 29, whereinthe generating step comprises generating time error data representing adifference between an event timestamp and an expected event timestamp.